Under My Wing
by freakyanimegal
Summary: It hadn't been expected, and it hadn't been taken easily. Arranged to marry and sire the new Chosen, Lloyd swore that he would protect his family. However once it became clear to him what the Chosen's destiny was...he decided he would not stand for it.
1. Chapter 1

…**.Too many stories have I, care not I do**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

"Dammit! Even today they can't give us five minutes of-"

"Lloyd…" her voice called softly, weak, exhausted from her endeavor, "Please..."

He stopped. She didn't even have to finish her sentence. He knew what she wanted; he always knew what she wanted. The man pulled away from the window, closing the curtains and walking to her side, kneeling beside her, gently kissing her cheek before looking at the little bundle she had in her arms. A little girl, newborn, still ugly from birth- yet somehow so beautiful despite the ordeal- was wailing in her mother's arms. Lloyd smiled and brushed the knuckles of his hand lightly over her tiny cheek, unable to help the mist coming to his eyes.

"You did wonderfully Colette," Raine sighed, tired as well, smiling at the couple and their newborn as she began to clean herself from the mess, "Just take it easy…"

"The child's name?"

The smile fell from Lloyd's face, a dark look coming over his features as he registered the voice. With a slow turn of his head his russet eyed narrowed dangerously and defensively at the priests who stood in the room, despite his efforts to keep them out. His teeth ground together and he said nothing, giving them the warning gaze of a protective father. Colette answered for him, then, though she held her child a little closer.

"Arie," she said weakly, "We're going to name her Arie."

"Very well," the head priest nodded, "We'll set up a baptism-"

Lloyd snapped. Before anyone could say anything he was at his feet and had a hand on the collar of the priest's robe, glaring.

"Lloyd-!" Raine scoffed.

"How about you handle that somewhere else, and at some other time, hm?" he hissed. "Leave me and my family alone for a while, would you be so kind?"

The last words came out like more of a growl than actual words, making the man go pale. The other priests murmured before Phaidra spoke up, slamming her staff into the ground.

"Lloyd, that is enough," she cut in, her old voice surprisingly strong. "As for the rest of you..Yes, we shall leave them alone for a time."

Colette gave a grateful smile to her grandmother, who lightly returned one of her own before she and the priests left. Raine went to excuse herself as well, but not before congratulating both of them and scanning the baby, a small smile on her face.

"…" Lloyd sighed as the door closed, "Finally, they're gone."

"Lloyd- Lloyd look, isn't she beautiful?" Colette smiled, ignoring his temperament in turn for taking in her newborn child. "She's so beautiful, Lloyd…look!"

A soft smile came to his face, finally, as he turned to his family, observing his glowing wife and beautiful child. He relaxed as he sat on her bedside, an arm around her, looking at the little girl they had brought into the world. For a moment, he was happy again, until he heard the priest from outside.

The priest declaring the birth of the new Chosen, Arie.

* * *

><p>Things were going smoothly.<p>

Lloyd stood across the room with Raine and Genis, the three of them with their eyes on Colette as she stood with the priests before the altar, a small smile on her face, to reassure them. Things had gone smoothly, aside from the monsters in the temple that he and the Sages had come to help with. So here they were in the temple, awaiting the oracle, Lloyd a little antsy. The Desians hadn't even bothered to show up, why hadn't they tried to attack them? Something was strange.

Oh well. You shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, right?

Still, he had a feeling in the pit of his gut that something was going to end up being more than what they had bargained for…

The thought was quickly dismissed as something more interesting caught his attention. A glowing mass had appeared over the altar, the light pulsating as it drifted down, earning the attention and awe of all those assembled. The light flashed and in its place, as feathers drifted to the floor, an angel appeared. Lloyd tensed, his jaw dropping just a bit, his eyes locked on the feathered appendages flapping gently behind the being that had appeared before them.

An angel! A real angel!

Colette bowed her head in respect, the priests doing the same, and after a light smack from Raine, he and Genis bowed their heads a bit too, more out of fear for their instructor than out of respect as was the case for Colette. The angel surveyed them all and his eyes landed on Colette, his expression blank, and strangely...unnerving.

"Chosen One, Colette, daughter of the mana lineage..."

"Yes, my lord," she replied, keeping her head bowed but nodding to show her compliance.

"Your birth had selected you to conduct the Journey of Regeneration, for which you had prepared," he said.

"Yes my lord," she said again, her voice a little softer.

"...However the will of the goddess has turned to your favor and Cruxis' decree of your duty has been altered."

All assembled twitched. Colette jerked her head up, eyes widening a bit as she looked up at the angel before them.

"A- altered-?"

The priests fidgeted, but said nothing, their eyes on the winged one; Genis looked at Lloyd, who looked down at him in turn, their teacher's eyes narrowing on Remiel with skepticism.

"Indeed," he nodded, "The Chosen Colette shall not conduct the Journey of Regeneration, rather she shall be wed in order to birth the Chosen that shall take her place."

Colette flinched.

"Lord Remiel, please do not be displeased with us, o holy one..." a priest started, bowing his head, "But- what is it you mean? She - she is the Chosen one who we have been told-"

"Do you question the will of the goddess?'

Something about the tone of his voice tweaked Lloyd, made an uncomfortable chill go up his spine, made his stomach twist. His unease from earlier was back...and intensifying.

He didn't like this...something...something was wrong.

"N- No! No your holiness-"

"Then it is done, the Chosen Colette shall wed the one decreed to her by Cruxis, and her task shall pass to her firstborn daughter"

Colette could only stare.

What was going through her head...was a maelstrom of thoughts and emotions. Freedom from her duty? No- not freedom, marriage, another duty. Release from her fate-? No...passing...it to another. No...this- this wasn't what she had been prepared for this wasn't what she had spent her life convincing herself was right for her to do...

She had been ready to give up her life- but- no one else's- no! She couldn't-

"L- Lord Remiel," she bowed her head, "Please, forgive me but…I have trained for this and- the people of Sylvarant have waited long enough, please, allow me to do the task I was born for-"

"Do you reject the will of the goddess Martel?" he snapped.

She flinched and shook her head, bowing apologetically.

"N- No, not at all, I just-"

"Then be silent and obey the decree of the goddess, accept your role," he said, his eyes narrowed.

Colette choked and hung her head, nodding in silence. Lloyd felt his fists clench at his sides. Angel or not, he didn't like someone telling Colette something like that. Why was this even happening?

"Can they even do this?" he muttered.

"They always have, Lloyd," Raine explained softly, having heard him, "All members of the mana lineage have their marriage partners decreed to them by Cruxis."

"W- what-?"

"If you'd paid attention in class you'd know that," she huffed, "Colette's parents were married because of Cruxis' will as well."

Lloyd stared at her, then over at the blonde girl, whose bangs were shielding her eyes.

"Wait- Colette…is going to get married?" he whispered. "But- but.."

A strange cluster of emotion ate at him. She was going to get married-? No- but- she was just a kid like them, right? And he- she couldn't just get married. Who would she even marry? Some guy from the village? From some other village? He felt his teeth grit. The thought of some stranger marrying Colette-

"Who is it that Cruxis has decreed shall marry the Chosen One, your holiness?" a priest asked.

Lloyd flinched and clenched his fists. No. No they couldn't do this-

Then quite suddenly his entire life changed.

"The one near the village, a Lloyd Irving."

He froze, as did everyone else in the room. All eyes were on him, except for the blue eyes of the bride-to-be, which were now fixated on the angel in an expression of pure shock.

Silence.

"What?" Lloyd said flatly, jaw dropped, staring up at Remiel.

"H- Him? Milord," a priest said, "He is an outsider- raised by a dwarf of all things-"

"He is the one that Cruxis has selected, and he shall be wed to the Chosen as decreed," the angel said flatly, his tone almost daring someone to object.

Someone did.

"Wh- N- No! Lord Remiel, please, Lloyd doesn't have to do this!"

Then all eyes were on Colette.

"Co-?" Lloyd began, his eyes widening.

"Please milord, I- I'll marry another, anyone else, just don't- don't force him to do this, please, I beg of you," she pleaded, her head bowed, shaking, "Please let him…let him choose his own life…please…"

Lloyd stared at her, unsure of what it was he should feel. Was she rejecting him? She didn't want to marry him-? No, why was he thinking that? Don't be stupid of course she didn't want to marry him, it's not like he wanted to marry her- wait- no, that wasn't the point! The point was she was being forced into this- he was being forced into this! That was the point, this wasn't right, they had no right to just randomly decide who any of them married- right-? …Right? The Professor just said though…that Cruxis always chose who married in the mana lineage…but it still wasn't fair. It wasn't- right?

Still…to force Colette into marrying- him.

He choked.

Him? Wait, what? Why him? Out of everyone in the world-?

"D- Dammit, what's so special about me?" he shook his head, gritting his teeth. "Why does Cruxis want me, huh? And-"

His eyes glanced to Colette right as she glanced at him, their eyes locked just a second before they both pulled away, Colette hanging her head and Lloyd glaring up at the angel.

"If she has to marry at least let her choose who she wants to marry! This isn't- this isn't right, you can't just-"

"Silence, boy!" a priest snapped. "You cannot question he will of the goddess! How dare you!"

"The Chosen will wed this boy, that is final," Remiel decreed, his eyes narrowing on Lloyd, daring him to speak.

Lloyd dared.

"She doesn't have to do this!"

Remiel's eyes narrowed and before anyone could register what had happened, the angel had sent a blast of light mana, knocking the teen into the stone wall and effectively knocking the breath out of him in turn.

"Lloyd-!" Colette cried, her eyes widening.

The teen sputtered and choked, trying to get to his feet, face scrunched up pain as he looked up at the angel which glowered down at him, eyes still narrowed.

"That was a warning boy, you do not question the will of Cruxis," Remiel said flatly, his eyes flicking with impatience.

Lloyd almost spoke again but Colette had rushed over to him, cutting off his view of Remiel and showing him only her worried face.

"Lloyd- Lloyd are you okay?" she cried, distraught, checking him over.

"I- Yeah Colette…." He nodded, grimacing.

"The boy will learn his place, milord," a priest said, ignoring the two, "Please forgive his insolence, Cruxis' will shall be carried out."

"It had better."

* * *

><p>People were treating him differently now. How they looked at him, talked to him, even just how they walked by him. He did his best to ignore them, to just go about his life, but he could still feel their eyes on him, the bubbling frustration and bitterness. Managing to forge a small smile he walked up to the shopkeeper, knowing what to expect.<p>

"Oh, Lloyd! Hello, how's the Chosen holding up-?"

"Arie is fine, thank you," he said a bit curtly, but managed to keep the smile plastered, "I was just picking some things up for Colette."

"Oh, how is she holding up?"

"She's fine, still a little tired, the baby's been keeping us both up," his smile melted softly into a genuine one, thinking of the little infant back home in his wife's arms.

"That's good to hear, well, you all take care of yourselves," he said, bagging the ingredients Lloyd had picked out for dinner.

"We will, thanks," he said pleasantly, taking the bag and then leaving.

His smile promptly fell.

He knew that they didn't mean anything by it, but hearing it time and time again...

'How is the Chosen?'

Not 'how's the baby?', 'how's your daughter?'...

He hadn't even heard one 'congratulations' yet, Dirk and the Sages excluded…

On his way home he walked past the schoolhouse, where class had just been dismissed. A wave of children poured through the door, racing out to play, or walking home. His feet came to a stop and he found himself watching, his brown eyes flicking over them.

His own child would go to this school like he had, would be taught by Raine, as he had. With these children…some of them would be gone by then, yes, but many of them would be still enrolled.

Would they play with her? Colette...hardly anyone ever played with Colette when she was little, aside from himself and then later, Genis...

His little Arie...why did she have to go through all this...

Fists clenched at his sides as he turned and walked off, trying to ignore the sounds of kids running around. Not that he disliked hearing happy children, he hoped to hear his own daughter laugh...

At least that made him smile.

"Colette, I'm home," he smiled as he came inside, placing the bag on the table before heading into their room.

She looked up at him when he walked in, smiling gently, glowing despite her exhaustion as she held their child to her chest, nursing the infant. Lloyd smiled at the sight of her and walked forward, gently kissing her before sitting by her and looking at the little baby.

"Didn't you just feed her?" he asked, his head tilted.

"I have to feed her every couple hours, silly," she smiled weakly at him, "she's just a newborn."

He smirked lightly and gave her another kiss, gently brushing his knuckles across the baby's tiny cheek. It was strange, to be a father…the whole idea needed some getting used to. Colette was a natural at being a mother, she was gentle, patient….he still didn't know what the hell he was supposed to do. It's not like he could do what Dirk did to him to a baby, and like…well, Dirk was a little harsh when it came to physical punishments sometimes…he probably wouldn't do that himself. Not that Dirk was a bad parent, he was just…well, rough.

"She's a little pig," Lloyd smirked, looking at their daughter, "cute little piglet."

"Don't be mean, Lloyd," Colette giggled, looking at him with a smile.

Her smile faltered a moment later, which Lloyd took note of.

"Colette? Honey, what is it?" he frowned.

Colette hesitated, looking at him and then down at their baby, looking back at him. An unusually somber expression came across her face, a frown, and one could tell something was troubling her greatly.

"Colette?" Lloyd asked, worried. "What's wrong Colette?"

"I- …Lloyd…" she looked away, "There's something I should…tell you."

Lloyd looked at her, expecting her to continue, and she looked back. There was a long moment of silence before the blonde smiled again.

"You're going to have to change her diaper next," she chirped.

Lloyd stared at her and grimaced, by forced a weak smile on his face, giving her a light kiss before leaving to start their meal while Colette looked after him. Her smile fell and she looked down at her nursing infant, biting her lip.

How could she tell him? She had managed to keep it from him this long, manage to keep it from him even when the priests wanted to tell- but- how could she tell him? How could she tell him their little girl was…going to die?

A sharp pain twisted in her chest, making her shut her eyes, stifling tears stinging in her eyes.

How could she tell him? How could she even handle this? Was it…was it better that he just didn't know, so he could enjoy being a family until …until they couldn't anymore? How could she do that to him- how could she do this to her daughter? What kind of mother was she? This was all her fault- all her fault. She should have been the Chosen, she should have died…why…why her baby…why her baby girl? But what else…what else could she do? There was nothing…nothing else…she could do…

She held her child tightly, a couple tears slipping loose as her body began to shake.

What could she do?

"Hey honey, do you think I should throw this celery out? It looks kinda wilted," Lloyd asked, poking his head in through the doorway.

"Huh-? Oh! Uhm….sure," she nodded, examining the stalk he held in her view, "Yes it doesn't look too healthy.

Lloyd grinned.

"Yeah, don't want anything like that making your or the little pumpkin sick," he smiled at her, then blew her a kiss, turning back to leave "I'll have something ready in a bit, just relax okay Colette?"

"All right," she called after him, smiling weakly.

Lloyd walked back into the kitchen, preparing the meal for his family- he liked that thought. Family. Him, his wife and his little girl. He'd protect them, no matter what happened, no matter who said anything… No one was going to interfere with that; ever.

No force in hell or heaven would tell him otherwise.

**Second gen, technically, yes….however the child isn't going to be the focus of this story. If you haven't noticed, this story is about Lloyd and his daddy-roles :D**

**Mature!Lloyd say what? Lol n.n**


	2. Chapter 2

**Next chapter! Hurrah!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

Lloyd glowered at all of them, his arms crossed, as Colette sat with her head down, her golden locks obscuring her face. The mayor sat at the head of the table, the priests assembled, the Sages watching warily…and Dirk looking about ready to chuck the table at someone.

"Yah can' expect mah ta believe that some angel commanded mah son ge' married-!"

"Dirk, please try to stay calm," Raine sighed, "There's nothing we can do about it."

"Like hell-!"

"I'm sorry Dirk," Phaidra closed her eyes, "But this is what has been decreed by Cruxis…"

"Why him though?" the mayor asked, eying the priests. "Of all people-"

Lloyd slammed his hands on the table, growling as he got to his feet.

"Of all people? What do you mean by that huh? Is that a crack at my dad?"

"You're just a foundling! Why would some orphan be selected to father a Chosen-?"

"Mister Mayor," Frank interrupted, "I was selected to marry Colette's mother the same way-"

"You were the son of a priestess," the mayor scowled, looking at Phaidra, "That makes far more sense than some orphan no one even knows anything about-"

"That could actually be why…." Phaidra said quietly.

Despite the softness of her tone she somehow got the attention of all present, the room's inhabitants turning and looking at the elderly woman, who seemed deep in thought.

"…We know nothing of Lloyd's lineage, we can assume that the goddess knows far more of his bloodline than any of us do," she explained, "He could very well have been found here by the will of the goddess for this very purpose."

Lloyd flinched.

"W- What? What are you talking about-?" Lloyd shook his head, scowling.

The priests were murmuring among themselves, and even the mayor seemed to have quieted, scanning Lloyd with interest.

"Phaidra, there is no evidence to support that," Raine frowned, but eyed him as well nonetheless.

"This is ridiculous!" Lloyd shouted, slamming his hands on the table. "This- this is stupid! I'm not marrying anyone! And she shouldn't have to either! It's stupid, for me to marry C-"

He barely realized when a blur of white and gold ran up the stairs to her room, holding her face to her hands, stifling a sob. Lloyd choked, his eyes widening when he realized he had upset her.

"W- wait- Colette, wait! That's not what I meant- wait!"

He followed her up the stairs, the white ribbons whipping out of sight.

Colette sat at her desk, sobbing quietly into her arms, the sunlight glowing off her golden hair. Lloyd felt his throat tighten and swallowed, staring at her. She was crying? No way- he had never seen Colette cry, ever, had he really upset her that much-? Oh crap, he did, didn't he? He'd made her cry by saying that- oh man…

"C…Colette…" he said quietly, hesitantly approaching her, "L- Look, I didn't mean it like that, it's not that I don't want to marry you- I- That is-! I mean- uh-"

With a groan he rubbed the red cloth on his hand over his face, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration as his cheeks began to tint pink. What was he supposed to say? What did anyone say in a situation like this? Okay, take a deep breath and try again…

"Colette, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry," Lloyd frowned, looking at the back of her head, "I just- it's not that…"

"I'm sorry," her voice came quietly, muffled by her arms and hair.

He blinked.

"What? Colette- huh? Why are you apologizing? I'm the one who's trying to-…" he sighed, walking up to her, "Colette-"

"Your life is ruined," her voice came quietly, barely a whisper, more of a squeak, "Your life is ruined because of me."

Lloyd stared.

"W- what?" he shook his head, frowning. "No, Colette, what are you talking about? You didn't ruin my life- what are you saying? Colette-"

"You have to get married," she said quietly, shaking, "you have to get married to someone you don't love and you have to live with it- I ruined your life, you won't ever get to live your own life- b- because- because you have to m- marry- m- me!"

"Wh-?" his eyes widened. "I- No! Colette, you didn't do anything, okay? This isn't your fault-"

She wouldn't listen, sobbing into her arms, her entire body shaking. Lloyd stared at her a moment, his fists clenching at his sides before her rushed forward and spun the chair, making her face him.

"Colette, listen to me, you didn't do anything-" he said.

"But you have to marry-" she choked, her blue eyes filled with tears.

"Dammit, Colette! It's not that- look I would LOVE to marry you, it's just that being forced-!"

He froze, realizing what he had just said. She had gone still as well, staring at him, her expression of disbelief nearly matching the one on his face. Lloyd stammered a bit, feeling the flush crawl onto his cheeks and then looked away, lowering his head a bit.

"I…I'm just mad they're forcing us like this- that they're forcing you, Colette," he frowned, lowering his head, "Don't- don't worry about what I think okay, Colette? "

She stared at him a long moment.

"You- you…" she sniffed, her face twisting up, "You…would- would have…wanted, to marry me, Lloyd?"

He choked a bit, turning back to look at her, locking with her blue eyes.

"I…"

Before he knew what had happened she flung her arms around him, sobbing into his chest as her arms curled around him tightly.

"C- Colette-?"

"Lloyd- Lloyd I-" she choked, lowering her head, "I- m- me too Lloyd- m- me too!"

He couldn't think of anything to say, and she said nothing else. What was he supposed to do? He barely even realized he had blurted that- n- not that …not that it wasn't true, but to just say it like that…

He looked at her golden hair, felt her sobbing into his chest. Sure he didn't know what to do…but…

He wrapped his arms around her gently, letting her cry. What else could he do, after all?

Little did he realize just how much she had really gone through…

* * *

><p>His eyes flickered open and he sighed, seeing only the darkness. Odd, usually he didn't dream about that…not anymore, anyway. Shifting in the darkness he looked across the bed, Colette's sleeping face, her golden locks falling around her cheeks. Then in between them, the little bundle, the baby snoozing with quiet breathes. A small smile came to his face and he gently kissed his daughter's cheek, looking up at its mother and allowing his smile to spread more.<p>

She was so cute, he couldn't get over it. Couldn't get over the tiny little person he and Colette had brought into this world, couldn't get over how amazing it was to see his nose on her face, Colette's cheeks, a meld of sorts for her facial structure… What color were her eyes, he wondered? When would she open them? She had brown hair, his hair, maybe she'd have Colette's eyes? Those beautiful, sapphire gems? Or brown? Would they be a deep, chocolate brown? The kind of brown that made you feel warm and cozy?

He chuckled a little, smiling as he stroked her cheek with his knuckles.

So surreal…to be a father….to be a parent…to have something so small and precious dependent on you…

He wasn't quite sure how that made him feel… Happy? Yes, of course. Fear? Yes…he supposed that was there too. He was afraid, he was very afraid. What if he messed up? What if he made a mistake and it ended up hurting his family? His wife, his little girl…

With a frown he shook his head. No. He could do this, and it's not like he was alone; after all Colette was here, their fathers were here, the Sages were here…they weren't alone in this. They could all come together and care for and protect this tiny child…

"Little Arie…" he whispered gently, a small smile flicking on his face as he stroked her cheek, "My baby girl…"

The infant's face scrunched up and it whimpered, causing Lloyd to freeze, staring at her. Oh no, did he wake her-?

Another whimper followed and then a whine followed by the choppy breathes that preceded crying- Oh no. He stiffened, panicking just a bit.

"N- No, it's okay honey, shhhh, shhh…go back to sleep-" he stammered, glancing at her and then at Colette, who had stirred a little.

Arie began to cry softly

"Oh-! No- shhhhh- shhhh," he picked her up, careful to mind her head, rocking her gently, "No, no sweetie, it's okay, it's okay, it's just Daddy, go back to sleep-"

She began to cry louder, cold from the sudden loss of warmth from the blanket and frightened by the sudden sensation of being up in the air, rocked.

Lloyd paled and looked at Colette, who began to wince in her sleep, murmuring just a little. Swallowing to loosen his tightened throat, Lloyd quickly exited the room with their child in the hopes he wouldn't wake up his wife.

"It's okay, it's okay," he repeated, gently rocking the baby, shushing her, "Don't cry please don't cry-"

His attempts had the opposite effect; the child began to cry louder, making her panicked father wince at the piercing sound. Lloyd paled and looked around the living room desperately, as if something there would magically present him with the solution to his problem, but of course that wasn't likely to happen. If it did at any rate, then Lloyd would probably have more problems to worry about, such as his psyche.

So what could he do?

Taking a deep breath he awkwardly began to hum, humming that tune that Colette always sang to her when she started to cry.

It came weakly at first, but when the infant heard it her crying softened, if only slightly. Encouraged by this Lloyd hummed louder, gently swaying side to side as his eyes kept locked onto little Arie. She began to quiet down a bit and Lloyd smiled lightly, relieved. Slowly his hums drove him to singing softly, his voice low and gentle, very little louder than a whisper, but sing he did. He lost track of just how long he was in there with her, only stopping when she finally slept again, cuddled up to the warmth of his chest.

"…" he smiled warmly, kissing her tiny forehead, "Sweet dreams, sweetie…"

"You sing good, Lloyd; you should do it more often."

The man stiffened just a bit and then relaxed, recognizing the voice. With a sheepish smile he turned to the door, where Colette stood in her nightgown, an equally sheepish smile on her face.

"I- I didn't want to wake you up," he frowned, "I'm sorry I just…she started crying and…"

Colette giggled softly, walking forward and reaching up on her toes to plant a kiss on his cheek.

"Don't apologize, silly," she smiled brightly, "Babies cry, it happens."

He returned her kiss, then lowered his head again to look at his daughter. That strange mix of emotions stirred up again and he looked away, turning his attention to Colette.

"Colette, do you…feel…."

"Feel what?" she blinked, looking up at him curiously.

"I- …n-nevermind," he shook his head, flushing a little, "W- we should probably get back to bed huh? It's late."

Colette nodded; that sunny smile back on her face. Lloyd shakily returned it and the young family walked back into their room, cuddling together to catch that last hours of sleep from the night.

**Flluuuufffff**

**It will find youuuuu**


	3. Chapter 3

**This chapter is heavily influenced by the ex Manga **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

Four.

She was already four.

Lloyd watched her silently, watched as the little brunette girl lay curled up in her bed, the sheets wrapped tightly around her petite form. The sun was already up, but he'd let her sleep in, for just a little bit at least. He knew the poor thing would be tired as all get out by the end of the day, the least he could let her do was sleep a little more.

He frowned a bit, his hand gripping on the doorframe.

The clergy was already done with preparations for the church ceremony, to celebrate the birthday of the Chosen. They were waiting, he knew, anxious to get started. He wouldn't have it, she was only a child after all, let her rest a bit, for the love of Martel. Still, he knew they would be angry if they kept them waiting much longer…

He sighed deeply.

"Daddy?" her voice mumbled.

Lloyd stiffened, a smile coming to his face as he walked into the room, kneeling by her bedside.

"Good morning, pumpkin," he smiled gently, meeting her large brown eyes with his own russet ones. "Did you have good dreams?"

"Uh-huh," she nodded, smiling tiredly, her hair blown in every direction as if she'd been through a tornado, "I had one that Noishe brought me a cupcake."

Lloyd chuckled, ruffling her already hazardous hair.

"Oh really? A cupcake, huh? Hm…well, maybe you'll get to have a cupcake today," he winked, smirking just a bit.

"Today?" she blinked. "Why, Daddy?"

"It's a very special day," he smiled, "That's why."

She fell silent.

"Is it laundry day?" she asked.

"…" Lloyd shook his head, "No, Arie."

"Oh," she blinked, frowning a little bit, wracking her brain for the information.

"It's your birthday, silly," he chuckled, ruffling her hair again.

Her face fell.

"Oh," she said again.

"…'Oh'?" Lloyd frowned.

"Does that mean I hafta sit on the chair and the pastor is gonna talk a lot again?" she sighed, a small frown on her little face.

"I-…well, yes," Lloyd sighed a bit, rubbing his face, "But that's okay, we're still going to have fun, okay? It's your birthday, so…"

He picked her up, the little girl clinging to her father, looking up at him with those wide brown eyes.

"When that's all done, we're all going to have picnic," he smiled, "Uncle Genis is going to make you a cake, and Mommy, Grandpa Dirk, Grandpa Frank and Auntie Raine are all going to come."

Her eyes lit up, amazed at the very idea.

"And we'll play tag and hide and seek," he continued, smiling warmly, "all you want, okay?"

"R- Really?" she grinned. "Your promise, Daddy?"

"Of course I promise," he smirked, tweaking her nose, "Daddy never lies."

"Can I have a cupcake?" she asked, her eyes shimmering.

He chuckled.

"Well…I'll ask Uncle Genis, okay?" he winked. "I'm sure he'll make you a cupcake."

She grinned toothily.

"Thatta girl," he grinned as well, "Now, let's go get breakfast, hm? Mommy made you pancakes."

"Pancakes?" Arie gasped, her eyes sparkling again.

"Yup," he nodded "Only the best for the birthday girl."

He gave her a small hug and then walked out with her to the kitchen, where Colette had already put a plate out, with a few sliced pancakes atop it. Arie's eyes lit up and Colette smiled brightly at her child.

"Good morning, sweetie," She smiled, "Did Daddy wake you up?"

"Uh huh," she nodded, "Mommy made pancakes."

Colette nodded, ruffling her daughter's hair.

"Yes I did, do you want some? They're for you after all," Colette kissed her cheek.

"'Cause it's my birthday?" she asked, looking at her mother, then up at her father.

"Yeah," Lloyd smiled, "That's right honey, now why don't I sit you down so you can eat the yummy pancakes Mommy made you?"

He set their daughter down and she happily indulged in the scrumptious pancakes, her little feet swinging off the edge of the chair. Lloyd chuckled and kissed his wife, squeezing her hand.

"You go ahead and sit down, Colette, I'll make breakfast for us," he said.

"Oh, that's all right, Lloyd, I can-"

"No, I got it," he smiled, already taking her place at the stove, "Go ahead."

Colette gave him a weak smile and took her place next to Arie, watching her as the oblivious child continued her meal. After a moment there was a knock, making Lloyd frown, aggressively turning to glare at the door.

"I'll get it…" Colette said hesitantly, getting to her feet.

Lloyd gripped the spatula he had been using tightly, struggling to keep control of himself. Those damn priests…it seemed every day they were getting on his nerves more and more…

Luckily though, it turns out they weren't being visited by them at all.

"Oh! Lloyd, Professor Sage is here," Colette chirped, letting the half-elven woman into their home.

"Oh, hey, Professor," Lloyd immediately relaxed, giving her a small smile.

"I told you two, you don't have to call me 'Professor' anymore, I'm no longer your teacher," she sighed, though she didn't look annoyed.

"Auntie Raine!" Arie chirped, wiping the syrup off her face. "Hi!"

Raine smiled weakly, looking upon the child. She was a soft, round-face little girl, her mother's delicate features, touched with Lloyd's bold brown eyes, the rich chocolate colored hair. There was a roughness of sorts to her that was clearly from her father, despite that- as well as her coloring- she was almost the splitting image of her mother.

Her mother herself was a little unnerving to look at sometimes, as was her father. Colette was…twenty-four now? Yes, she was. She hadn't changed too much she supposed, but she certainly looked like a mother. She was soft, mature, gentle, and her motherhood had given her a figure she obviously had not had previous to giving birth. That glow she had during her pregnancy hadn't seemed to have left her, though there was a somberness to her as well…but that was easy to understand…

Lloyd, on the other hand, had changed a lot more.

While Colette hadn't gotten much taller and her face had sleeked somewhat, she all in all looked like she had when she was first 'engaged'. Lloyd...not so much.

He'd gotten significantly taller, and his barely developed shoulders had…developed. Lloyd at twenty-five was now a few inches over six feet, having grown into his height his body had broadened as well to fit him. A strong jaw had developed somewhere along the line, and his eyes had sleeked, leaving him a surprisingly handsome young man. It was odd, to see all of them together.

Lloyd, a strong young man, Colette, a beautiful mother, and their little girl, the joy of both their lives…

The sacrifice…

"Hello there, Arie," Raine smiled softly, "Are you enjoying your birthday breakfast?"

"Uh-huh," she nodded, smiling brightly, "Mommy made it."

"Hm, I see," she said, "Are you excited for later?"

She nodded again, more vigorously, her brown hair whipping up and down as she did so. Raine chuckled softly and pulled up a chair on the other side of the table, watching the young family. Lloyd had just finished Colette's breakfast, smiling and setting it down in front of her. Colette smiled and looked up at him, the couple leaning in and kissing.

* * *

><p>"I am NOT wearing this!"<p>

Frank sighed, glancing nervously at the door, knowing that Lloyd's loud refusal would have been heard by the clergy.

"Lloyd, please, if you put up a fuss about this they'll make it worse," the man bit his lip, looking again at the scowling brunette in front of him.

"This is bullshit!" he snapped, shaking his head. "One, I didn't even know about this- this- 'meeting' and two, if this had to happen I should have been the one to ask HER and three- I'm not wearing that!"

"I realize you're upset, Lloyd," Frank sighed, rubbing his face, "but it's tradition. The betrothed couple has to appear publicly as a pair. It'll be quick, honestly…the priests will make the announcement, you'll come out with Colette, exchange a kiss with her and then-"

Lloyd stared at him.

"Wait- what? Kiss?" he said flatly, his expression blank.

"I-…" Frank sighed again, "Yes, you'll be expected to kiss-"

"I- In front of the whole village? Just- just right there? Right away?" he cried, feeling his cheeks flush bright red, burning his skin.

"Lloyd-"

"I-I can't- I can't do this!" Lloyd shook his head ,backing up. "No! No way!"

"You- You care for Colette, don't you?" he frowned. "She said you did-"

"I- I do- but- bu- thi- this is just going way too fast!" Lloyd shook his head again, gripping it. "I- I just barely realized I like her like- like that and now all this? Ceremony, a date- k- kissing?"

"If it's any consolation, after the kiss you'll be allowed time on your own, for the…'date' portion if you feel better calling it that," Frank sighed, "You won't be expected to do anything after that, aside from have dinner with her-"

"DINNER?" Lloyd choked, his eyes widening even more.

The man sighed, knowing he hadn't helped his cause at all. With a shake of the head he laid out the clothes he'd been trying to get Lloyd to take onto the dresser, turning back to the door.

"I know how you feel, Lloyd," he frowned, his head lowered, "Honestly I do…I just…hope somehow the both of you can be happy."

Lloyd watched him leave, staring at the door for a good minute or so. He bit his lip and then sighed, rubbing his face, glancing at the 'traditional garb' that those stuffy priests said he had to wear. The garb worn in this …debut, by either the Chosen (if male) or…the father of the next Chosen…

His throat tightened.

Father of the Chosen…how…how had this happened? Why had things gone so nuts all of a sudden? Hesitating, he walked forward and picked up the clothes, frowning. They weren't anything special or fancy really. Just white clothes, with a slightly decorated belt and small bronze adornments on the cuffs of the sleeves.

How many Chosen had worn this, he wondered? How many 'fathers' had worn this? Frank had worn this too, hadn't he? When he had to…appear, with Colette's mother?

How many more, he wondered?

He frowned, biting his lip at the thought.

They had all thought that this'd be the end of everything, that the world would be saved, instead it was being delayed for some other Chosen to save…but…come to think of it, even if that happened, the Desians would just come back right? Colette had been helping with his new 'studies' since…the Oracle, and from the sounds of it, the world had already been 'saved' before. Spiritua was one of them, and- …uhm…okay so he didn't remember anymore, but it was miracle he even remembered one of them to begin with. Not like he wanted to sit there and learned about church doctrine, but no, the 'Father' had to be 'properly educated'.

Damn priests…

Still, the point was…even if the world was saved- if not soon then in a few MORE years- wouldn't it all just be undone again? Why? He bit his lip, frowning a bit and then sighed, scanning the clothes.

Colette was probably already ready, he thought. Probably didn't bother fighting like he did…probably took it a lot more gracefully. Was she ready for this emotionally? He didn't know that, he just knew he wasn't at all… Did he want this? Well- maybe…yeah, he did , he did want it. But he wanted it on their own terms, on their own time, not…like this…

But..this was what they had to deal with, wasn't it?

He sighed and began to undress.

He met Frank back in the living room after he had dressed, tugging the collar on the white buttoned shirt that he wore. Uncomfortable? Yes. Despite that though it gave him an odd feeling to wear the garb. Again he thought of how many had worn this garb, how many of the fathers, how many Chosen.. It was odd. To think of that…before this never would he have been in a situation to wear the garb of the Mana Lineage, and here he was…expected to marry into it.

To marry Colette.

"It suits you," Frank nodded, "You look good in white."

Lloyd frowned and glared slightly, fidgeting with the collar. Frank sighed and turned to the stairs, having heard the sound of footsteps coming down them. The teen tensed and looked as well, in time to see Colette descend the stairs.

His breath caught in his throat.

She was beautiful.

"You look lovely, Colette," Frank smiled weakly.

Lloyd stammered, his eyes on her. The gown was simple, really, plain just as his garb was. It fit snugly on her body, her petite, delicate frame, the sleeves flaring out at the end into long, draping cuffs, just as the end of the gown flared out as well. Her hair had been pulled into a bun, a simple gold chain around her neck. For the first time in his life he saw her with makeup, if he was correct in the red on her lips, the light coloring on her eyes and the red on her cheeks- though that may have just been her own blush…

"You look nice, Lloyd," she said, her head down, face turning more red as she wrung her hands together.

"I- I-" he stammered, staring at her. "You- ar- wow- uh-"

His face was burning, it was probably just as red as hers. Frank glanced at him and Lloyd took a deep breath, looking at her once again. She was so pretty…

"You're- pretty," he finished lamely, berating himself for his lack of eloquence.

She smiled softly, flushing and hunching her shoulders.

"All right…well, you two, let's go to the town square," he nodded.

The two of them glanced at him, then back at each other, silent.

"Take her arm, Lloyd," Frank instructed.

Lloyd flinched.

"I-"

"Go ahead Lloyd," Frank nodded.

He met her eyes and swallowed, losing himself in the expanse of brilliant blue. Telling himself to get control of his body, he stepped forward and slowly managed to put his arm through hers, flushing brightly as he looked down at her.

Both of them looked away from the other, but clung tightly to each other's arm all the same.

Colette was shaking- or maybe he was- maybe they both were. Nothing seemed real anymore, they barely heard anything but murmurs as they had to stand there for the 'debut'. The murmurs of both joy and displeasure, the mixed reactions of the crowds. None of it seemed to matter though, none of it until Frank turned and looked at him, gesturing to him then to Colette. He blinked, not understanding, until Colette turned and look up at him, flushed.

"I- we…have to kiss now, Lloyd," she murmured softly her cheeks bright red.

He swallowed and gripped her hands tightly, turning to her in what felt like slow motion, like the world had blurred around them, nothing was clear but her looking up at him.

He leaned down and closed his eyes, feeling the sweat on his forehead, the shake in his bones.

Then his lips met hers.

Nothing existed at all anymore. Just him and her. And this warm feeling that threatened to engulf him, but..he would have been fine with it, really.

* * *

><p>He pulled away from her and opened his eyes, looking down at his wife, smiling softly again as he turned and looked at their daughter as she finished the last of her milk, wiping her mouth on her sleeve. Colette scolded her lightly, handing her a napkin.<p>

"Okay then, Arie," she said softly, "We're going to get you dressed up now."

The little girl's face fell.

"Okay…." she murmured quietly.

Lloyd frowned again but said nothing, taking to cleaning up the kitchen. He wasn't required at the…'ceremonies', and honestly he hated the thought of having to go through them. To sit there and look at his child motionless and somber, bored out of her little skull. It wasn't right to make kids go through stuff like that, or maybe he was just bias because it was his own kid…. Nonetheless it was hard for him to endure, and Colette had insisted that if he didn't wish to go it was all right, but…if his family had to suffer through it, he felt it only right that he was there to at least share some of their pain. Besides, the second portion he was not allowed to partake in, so then he'd come home and make his own preparations. Genis would be done with the cake by then, if all went well, and some of the picnic food too. He'd help out, get a few things, and then wrap the presents he had made and purchased for her that were currently hidden under his and Colette's bed.

That'd make her happy, at least…which is what he kept telling himself throughout the 'festivities'. Arie sat in the chair in the center of the room while the priest's prattled on, Frank, the new head of the church seated beside her as was customary. Colette gripped his hand a bit and Lloyd gently returned it, frowning as he kept his eyes locked on their daughter. This wasn't right, it wasn't fair that a little kid had to go through this. She should be outside playing, or- or just no sitting through this at least. It was unbearable as an adult, he couldn't imagine how dead his little girl must be from boredom. He had half a mind to walk up in the middle of the ceremonies, pick her up and just walk out with her, maybe tell the priests some rather indecent things in the process. Still, he knew that even if he did it wouldn't matter…it'd just make things harder for Colette, and harder for Arie…

As the first portion came to an end, Lloyd walked up to his little girl's chair and kneeled before it, looking at her and forcing a small smile.

"How are you doing, pumpkin?" he said softly.

"I'm tired," she whimpered, kicking her little feet off the chair lazily.

"I know, sweetie, I know," he sighed, biting his lip, "But it's almost done, okay? And then you can come home and we'll have some cake, right?"

Arie glanced up at him and then her eyes fell downcast again, taking a deep breath and then releasing a sigh.

"Uh-huh," she nodded limply, her voice soft.

Lloyd felt a stab of pain but pushed it aside, forcing a smile for her sake.

"Hey, cheer up kiddo…" he ruffled her hair gently, "Mommy is going to stay right by you through this okay?"

She nodded again and Lloyd gently wrapped his arms around her, giving her a little hug. With that he stood up and walked out, knowing the clergy would be snapping at him to leave within seconds at any rate.

"Hey, Lloyd," Genis nodded as he walked in, "Good timing, I just put the cake in so it should be nice and fresh by the time they get here."

Lloyd glanced up at his friend, smiling weakly. The liliputian half-elf had really sprung up over the years, though he was by no means a large man. He had barely turned twenty, and had even manage to surpass Colette's height, but for a man his age that still wasn't much of an accomplishment. Even still, the half-elven male was as skinny and frail-looking as he had been when he was a pre-teen, though interestingly enough he had in fact developed a rather deep voice, which threw off many people that didn't know him well enough.

"Thanks," Lloyd smiled weakly, "I really appreciate it, are you sure you don't want me to pay you for it-?"

"Hey, look Lloyd, I told you guys that if you ever needed anything at all that I'd help," he rolled his eyes, having taken to chopping up some vegetables, "If I offer it why the hell would I expect you to pay me for it?"

"Aren't you losing money though, closing up early today?"

"Nah, the others can handle it while I'm gone," Genis shrugged, "It's a special occasion and all."

Lloyd smiled a bit, pulling off his gloves and rolling back his sleeves in preparation to assist his friend. Genis had managed to open up a little restaurant of his own a couple years back, and considering everything it had been doing very well. Genis was well known for his cooking prowess, and given that Iselia had always been a prime stop for pilgrimages and travelers wanting to visit the Village of Oracles, it had been become pretty popular with the 'tourists'. He'd even gotten some wealthy patrons from places like Palmacosta, who'd heard of the talented small-time chef and had donated quite an impressive amount of gald to the village as a show of appreciation.

"Are you sure?" Lloyd chuckled, washing his hands. "Can they survive without the Great Chef Genis Sage?"

"Yeah yeah, shut up and chop some pickles for the egg salad," Genis rolled his eyes, half consumed into his work.

The elder male smiled a bit and did as he was instructed, the two men working in relative silence, aside from the sounds of chopping and sizzling, preparing the little feast.

"I got Arie a puzzle-cube," Genis brought up after a few minutes, "I figured that'd entertain her a bit when she has to wait for all those ceremonies to start."

"Really? Yeah…I guess that'd be good," Lloyd nodded, "I'm sure she'll appreciate it."

"Of course, Sis got her a book," Genis smirked, glancing over at him, "But it has pictures in it, so it won't be too hard for you to read it to her at night."

"Hah hah," he snorted, glaring a bit at his friend, "I can read perfectly well, you know. You know how many of those insufferable tomes I had to go through to keep those priests happy?"

"So what'd you get her?" Genis asked, changing the subject in hopes it'd distract his friend.

"What? Oh…Colette and I got her a doll and I made her a little rocking unicorn…"

"Really? Where have you been hiding that?" Genis raised an eyebrow. "In the closet?"

"Under the bed, actually," Lloyd smiled sheepishly, "It's on its side so it fits under there fine."

Genis laughed, shaking his head.

"Under the bed? Geez, Lloyd, isn't that where you used to hide stuff when you were like twelve?"

"Oh shut up, Genis," the man rolled his eyes, "So how much longer until this stuff is done?"

"Hm, I think I can handle it from here," Genis bit his lip, scanning the assortment, "Go ahead and wrap her gifts, okay? I put mine and Sis' on the table."

They had decided earlier where they were going to meet; Raine, Frank, Colette and Arie would meet them in the sylvan on the outskirts of the village limits, where Lloyd would have thing set up with Genis and Dirk. The three men weren't out there very long before the guest of honor arrived, trotting alongside her blonde mother and holding her hand. Colette smiled down gently at her little girl as Arie did her best not to trip on any roots, cautiously stepping over the larger ones. Frank and Raine followed behind closely, both of them- like Colette- watching the little Chosen as she walked.

"Hey!" Lloyd grinned, approaching as they neared. "How's my little birthday girl?"

Arie's eyes lit up and she ran over to her father, nearly tripping over the roots before running into her father's outstretched arms. Lloyd grinned and picked her up off her feet, spinning the toddler around a bit before giving her a kiss on her cheek.

"Now how about we have some cake, huh?"

"Are those presents for me, Daddy?" she stared in wonder, her wide brown eyes shimmering.

"Yup," Lloyd chuckled deeply, patting her back, "Presents for the birthday girl. Now what do you say?"

"Thank you!" she grinned, looking around at everyone.

Lloyd smiled and carried her over to the blanket which their picnic was set on, sitting her down in front of the cake which bore four tiny candles.

"Make a wish, pumpkin," he said, patting her head.

She smiled brightly and wriggled in her seat, thinking a bit, her face furrowed in concentration. Then her eyes lit up and she blew out the candles.

"I wished that I could open the presents!" she proclaimed proudly, grinning her toothy little grin.

The assorted group of adults shared in a laugh, Colette giving her a little hug.

"Well, all right, but first eat your cake, huh?" Lloyd winked.

"Okay!"

**FLUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUF IT BURRRRRRRRRRNSSSSSS….and Justas a heads up I'm working on the chapters for Angels Among Us and Ensnared, just to let you know I am in fact writing something other than the new stuff n.n' …please don't hurt me. Lol. **


	4. Chapter 4

**I've just wanted to write this one lately for some reason**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

"Hold still-"

"Daddyyyy…." She whined, trying to struggle free from her father's hands.

"Pumpkin I'm just trying to make sure you look nice-"

"Noooooo," Arie whined, "Mommy!"

"Lloyd, I already put her hair up," Colette sighed a bit, walking up behind her husband, "She looks fine-"

"Well- all right, Arie do you have your notebook? Pencils? Your backpack-"

"Yes," the girl pouted, "I have all my school stuff Daddy; Mommy helped me."

"I- are you sure, what about tissues? In case you get the sniffles-"

"Daddddyyyyyy…" Arie pouted, sticking out her lower lip , her wide brown eyes looking up at him like a kicked puppy.

Lloyd flinched and scanned her a bit**, **frowning slightly. It was natural for him to be nervous for her first day of school, right? Right? He wasn't a worry-wart or clingy or anything, this was totally natural, right? Her brown hair had been pulled into pigtails on the sides of her head, a little white dress reminiscent of her mother's, red stockings and trim decking the gown, as well as several little birds Colette had sewn into the hem and sleeves. She looked so cute in her school clothes, holding her lunchbox, looking up at him so cute-

"Are we going now, Daddy?" Arie asked, tilting her head up at her father, "Auntie Raine said I shouldn't be late, because we're going to learn a lot."

"Of course," Colette smiled, "We're going to go and you're going to learn a lot, right sweetie?"

"Uh-huh!" she nodded, smiling brightly. "I'm so 'cited!"

"Excited, honey," Colette corrected with a smile of her own.

"…Are you sure she's got everything-?"

"Lloyd, don't worry, she's fine, now let's go on and walk her to school," his wife sighed, lifting him up by his arm, "She's ready."

"Uh-huh," their daughter nodded again, beaming, "Let's go!"

Lloyd hesitated just a moment but then allowed himself to relax, smiling gently down at Arie as she took Colette's hand.

The walk there wasn't anything eventful, and Lloyd was grateful for that, truthfully. He was surprised the church hadn't stuck their noses in and made some kind of event for this, or come up with some kind of ceremony or something else equally infuriating. Arie was a bundle of energy and anyone could see that she was excited, practically bouncing on her feet as they walked off.

"Well then, here's our new student," Raine smiled as they came up to the schoolhouse, waiting by the door as she saw her students in.

" Auntie Raine!" Arie grinned, practically jumping. "I'm going to school!"

"Yes you are, you're a big girl now," Raine chuckled, patting her head.

"Yup! I'm five! Mommy says I'm old enough to start going to school now so I'm going to school and I'm going to see other kids and play at recess and learn math and art and-"

"Honey, calm down," Colette scolded lightly, "Now, you be good for Raine, okay? Be a good girl and have fun."

Her head nodded up and down so quickly that her little pigtails became a blur of brown. She gave her mother a hug and then quickly in turn hugged Lloyd's leg, grinning up at him.

"See you later Daddy, love you!"

She turned and ran inside, leaving her parents staring after her in silence. Lloyd choked a bit until Colette's hand gently wrapped around his fingers.

"Wh-?" he blinked.

"Don't worry Lloyd, she'll be fine, and if anything happens I'll take care of it," Raine reassured them.

"I- ..yes, thanks..Raine," Lloyd said slowly, nodding, looking down at his teacher.

"Honestly, Lloyd, you're such a worrier," Raine shook her head, "Arie will be fine a few hours without you."

"I- I know that," he huffed a bit, glancing aside.

"We should go home now, Lloyd," Colette said, looking up at him, "You got a large order to fill yesterday didn't you? Someone wanted a bedframe made."

"Wh-? Oh yeah," he nodded, "Glad I'm getting carpentry orders…didn't want to take any business away from Dad with metalworks…"

"Dirk is fine, honey," Colette smiled, reaching up and kissing his cheek, "Besides you know he' d only be proud of you, he's just kidding when he says you're taking his business."

Lloyd grunted lightly and then cast one last glance into the schoolhouse, his fingers curling tensely at his side.

"Maybe I should go make sure-"

"Just go already, Lloyd," Raine sighed, shaking her head, "Besides, think of it as having some time with Colette."

The man blinked and glanced down at his wife, who smiled weakly, a faint flush on her cheeks.

"Uh-" he felt his own cheeks flush a bit in return.

"I swear, you two still act like kids on a first date," the half-elf smirked a little, shaking her head, "Get along, you two."

* * *

><p>"Uh- uh- um…"<p>

His tongue was tied up in knots; everytime he managed to form some idea of what to say it just wouldn't cooperate and his thoughts would scatter, leaving him to try to rope them all together again.

She sat across the table from him, her cheeks flushed pink and her hands folded in her lap, the gold barrette in her hair glinting in the sunlight. It was a simple meal, a simple wooden table behind her house, a simple little date.

Why then was this so complicated?

"So..uh…"

More silence.

"Lloyd…are you sure…you're not mad?" her face fell, wringing her hands in her lap where he couldn't see.

"Colette- I- I already told you, I'm- I'm okay with this, if you are- okay well I'm not 'okay' with it but- I'm okay with the part about marrying you- I mean-"

He choked up, feeling his face burn red again.

"So you…like me? I mean- I know you…ki- kissed me and stuff but…you had to so I understand that if you didn't like me that-"

"Colette, would you stop that?" he twitched, frowning a bit, "If I didn't want to kiss you I wouldn't have, okay? So- so-…"

"So you…like me?" she asked again, her voice barely above a whisper.

"I…I…" he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, closing his eyes and mustering up his courage, "Yeah. Okay? I do like you, Colette, I really do…so- so stop feeling guilty about this, okay? I told you this isn't your fault, and I- I – I'm…fine…marrying you."

He finished with barely a whisper himself, glancing aside, sitting there across from her in silence. How long they sat like that he wasn't quite sure honestly, but eventually she was the one to break the silence.

"I promise you I'll be a good wife," she said quietly, her head down, "I'll make up for this-"

"Colette, I told you already!" he shook his head, glaring just a bit. "This isn't your fault, you have nothing to make up for in the first place!"

Colette swallowed and hung her head, wringing her hands again. Lloyd sighed and after a moment the girl muttered something. The boy blinked and looked up at her, having not heard what it was she said.

"Colette?"

"I-…" she took a deep breath, "Did they tell you?"

"Tell me what?" Lloyd frowned, not liking where this was going.

How could he? Everything he was hearing lately was bad news, first they made him do that little display, then they made him move into the village, what else could it be this time-?

"They're going to make us sleep in the same room from now on," she said quietly.

He froze. What? But- what? So soon? But- but they weren't even technically engaged yet-

"Father says we'll have our own beds," she continued quietly, her face fallen and sad, "But we have to sleep in the same room from now on…and…and once we're married we'll have to share a bed."

"What-? But-" Lloyd groaned, slumping back in his chair and rubbing his face.

"I'm sorry, I know so much is happening so fast…" she said, looking up at him sadly, "I should have been able to accept the Oracle like I should have- I'm sorry-"

"Colette, I swear, if you apologize one more time for something you didn't even do I'll-."

"I'm sorry."

Lloyd sighed again, rubbing his face.

"Why…do you think they chose me?" he asked after they had sat in silence, finding it was the only thing he could think of.

"Why-? I…I don't know," she said quietly, chancing to look up at him.

"Phaidra said I was found her because of Martel's will or whatever," Lloyd muttered, trying to keep the animosity out of his voice as much as possible so he wouldn't upset her.

"Well…it…it could be possible," she said quietly, "But then I just…thought that if that was Martel's plan from the beginning, why didn't they let us know sooner that I wouldn't be the Chosen to go on the journey…."

"That's it, it doesn't make sense," Lloyd huffed, crossing his arms over his chest, "It just sounds like they just changed their minds half-way through, so why would it be a plan? It's so dumb-"

He noticed the look on her face and gritted his teeth together, forcing himself to silence.

"I- look okay, still, why me?" he huffed, glancing away. "I- Don't start apologizing to me again, I told you, I don't – I'm not mad to be marrying you, I just don't understand why it would be me…"

"You…haven't heard the rumors yet, have you?" she said quietly.

"Rumors? What rumors?" he blinked, turning to her.

"Well…" she fidgeted, wringing her hands, "Some of the priests are saying…it doesn't matter. Because- because they say the Chosen's fathered by an angel, so that…"

"What?" he stared. "That- what? That doesn't make any sense- and even if it did, then why would you need someone to marry you? Because you'd have a baby with- an…angel, so-"

"The priests say that…" she fidgeted, her face falling, "That an angel…uses…the husband to…"

She cut off, her face bright red, both embarrassed and almost ashamed, looking away from him. Lloyd stared back at her, again feeling his face flush before shaking it off, frowning.

"Well…it still doesn't sound right to me," he muttered.

"That and…" her voice came softly, quiet, "They're saying that…"

She trailed off into more mumbles, but Lloyd wasn't about to let the subject pass by him. What were they saying? Didn't they say enough? He at least had a right to know about whatever crap was going on regarding him.

"What are they saying, Colette?" he asked finally, narrowing his eyes on her.

"They're…saying that if the Chosen's father is supposed to be an angel then…" she fidgeted, glancing up at him, hesitant, "Then if that's true and you are going to be the father and- and what grandmother said about you being found her because Martel wanted-"

"Wait," Lloyd shook his head, staring at her, "What? Do you mean- … Do you mean that they're actually saying-"

"They're saying that maybe…because you're an orphan and stuff that-" she hung her head again. "They're just rumors-"

"They're saying I'm an angel?" he stared at her, completely incredulous. "Are you- are you kidding-?"

"I- It's just what I've heard, Lloyd, please don't be mad, I just told you what I heard because I thought you wanted me to tell you-"

"Dammit Colette, for the last time I'm not mad at you, nothing that's making me mad lately is because of you!" he groaned, rubbing his face. "It's everyone else! With- with all this stupid- all these damn 'preparations' and now all these stupid rumors! Do- Do I look like an angel to you! What kind of stupid- I don't have wings! Why are people so dumb?"

"Lloyd, please," Colette fretted, fighting back stings in her eyes, "Don't call them stupid, everyone's just excited about- about…a marriage and- and everything, so- so they're going to talk a lot and gossip… They're just excited Lloyd, please don't be mad at everyone."

Lloyd went to shout again and instead ended up just looking at her. For the first time in his life that he could think of he realized she was near tears. She was scared, frustrated, confused…and..and there was something else too. He couldn't put his finger on it but somehow this was causing her even more pain and stress than it was for him…and here he was making it worse. Lloyd hesitated a bit and then frowned, closing his eyes and taking a few deep breathes.

"I'm sorry," he said finally, "I don't mean to yell at you."

She smiled weakly at him and he groaned, rubbing his face again.

"I mean….c'mon, Colette, do I look like an angel to you?" he huffed, looking at her out of the corner of his eyes.

She just smiled at him; he wasn't sure if he liked that or not.

It was later that night when Lloyd found himself walking into the room they would now share. Colette was already there, in her nightgown, sitting on the side of the bed set again the left wall. Another bed was on the opposite wall, a couple dressers and a mirror in the room, as well as a changing screen Lloyd was relieved to see in the corner.

It still was awkward beyond all hell.

"Well…" he said nervously, scanning the room and then looking at her, "It's…enough space, at least."

She said nothing, sitting on the side of the bed, her hands folded in her lap and her head hung down. He sighed, glancing aside to the changing screen, passing her silence off as embarrassment. He made his way behind the changing screen and changed into the nightclothes he'd been given, as him sleeping in boxers in the same room with her didn't seem to be kosher (though that was all right with him, he wouldn't have wanted to do it anyway).

"So uh…" he said as he came out, looking at her across the room.

She hadn't moved.

"Colette? …Are you all right? I mean, this is uh- …weird but-"

She mumbled something under her breath.

"What?" he blinked, frowning at her, "Colette?"

He took a step forward and realized she was shaking, her knuckles were white from how tightly she gripped her own hands, her skin was pale. Lloyd immediately tensed with concern, approaching her.

"Colette? Colette what is it-"

"They said," she said softly, barely an audible whisper, "I…"

She trailed off again into another mumble.

"Colette? Colette what-" he said, gently going to touch her shoulder.

Finally she looked up at him, and Lloyd choked,, seeing the tears brimming in her blue eyes, the expression on her face was one he couldn't quite describe, but if he had to pick he'd label it as terror.

"They said," she said again, reinforcing her voice despite how her body shook more, "I had to let you do anything you wanted with me."

His mind snapped. He could only manage to stare at her before she hung her head again, breaking into sobs, though she made no motion to move.

"Wh- what?" he blurted, stumbling back a bit. "Wh- why- "

He cut off and all he could manage to do was stare at her, stare at her while she cried. What happened then? Well he couldn't remember exactly, all he remembered was yelling a lot, cursing the priests, Cruxis, the town, anyone and everyone that he could think to blame for this. Colette only stared at him, stunned, when he finally tapered off from his shouts he was left there panting, trying to catch his breath. They looked at each other for a moment, the silence almost surreal after his shouts. Not knowing what else he could do or say, Lloyd grabbed her shoulders, locking eyes with her.

"I would never do that to you, Colette," he said flatly, though his face conveyed his sincerity. "Do you hear me? I would never do that to you, ever."

She shook, tears coming to her eyes again when she threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly as she pressed her face into his shoulder. He flinched but slowly hugged her back, gently patting her back in an attempt to counsel her.

"You're going to have to eventually," she said quietly.

Lloyd froze. He stared at the wall a moment, feeling the heat from his face rising up to the tips of his ears. He swallowed and closed his eyes shut, shaking his head, trying to ignore the redness on his face.

"I- But- …No," he said, "I won't. ..N..Not…unless you…wanted me to."

The burn on his face seemed to double in intensity, but he was met with only a sad little laugh from Colette as she hugged him tighter.

"Thank you, Lloyd," she said softly, sniffing, "Thank you."

* * *

><p>He looked at the back of her head, the golden locks still somehow glowing with only the moonlight peering through the blinds to illuminate it. His arms were wrapped around her waist, holding her to him as she slept soundly, the blanket draped over them both. He smiled gently, putting his head on her shoulder and planting a gentle kiss on her cheek.<p>

"Sweet dreams, Colette," he whispered, finally closing his own eyes and drifting into sleep, feeling her heartbeat pulse with his own.

**Awwwwww I loves the Colloyyyyddddd…..not too much of Arie this chapter, but well…we'll be seeing a lot of her soon. Next chapter is when the crap hits the fan.**

**Hope you liked**


	5. Chapter 5

**Annddd here we go. Congrats people, the plot has arrived. (It's a girl! )**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

He stared, stunned, holding his sobbing wife as she clung to him, crying into his sleeve. Had he heard this right? No…no he couldn't have, this was a dream..it had to have been some kind of dream- a nightmare-

"Colette?" he whispered. "No…what are you talking about…Colette? That's-"

"She's going to die," the woman choked between sobs. "She's- when the Chosen completes the journey they die. Arie- when she goes on the journey she's going to d- di-"

She couldn't finish, instead collapsing into tears again, apologizing over and over into the fabric of his shirt. Lloyd's mind was blank, numb, every center of his brain shutting down so it could focus on what he had just been told. Arie would die. His daughter would die. His daughter- was born to die, had been brought into existence to die, they had been forced to marry and have a child just to send the child off to die.

No.

"Colette- that- that can't be-"

She continued to cry and Lloyd just stared at the wall, thinking of his little girl's face. In the morning she had been happy enough, it was her birthday, and he was going to have a party for her like he always did; Genis had even made her cupcakes, her favorite, and she was happy. Then it was after she had come back from the closed part of the ceremony…

She wasn't crying, no, but something was wrong. The light in her eyes was gone, it was like someone had snuffed out a candle, the little smiling bundle of energy was walking around as if dead. She hadn't wanted to go anywhere, she just went straight to her little room. Lloyd of course asked Colette what had happened, trying to figure out what had done this to his little girl. He barely finished his question when Colette broke down in tears…and here they were.

His daughter was going to die.

"No," he muttered, barely realizing he had voiced it.

"Wh-?" Colette sniffed, looking up at him.

"No." he said again, his teeth gritted and his expression sharp. "No. This isn't happening. I am not letting this happen!"

Colette jolted, alarmed, staring up at him with her teary, blue yes.

"Wh-? Lloyd- but-"

"I'm not letting our daughter die, Colette! I don't care what the hell they say I won't-!"

"If she doesn't the world will die!" Colette blurted, the tears flowing freely again. "Lloyd- Lloyd don't think I- I don't want her to die! You know I don't! I- I should have! I should have been the one to die, not her! But- but- but the world will die if the Chosen doesn't do the journey and- oh Lloyd I don't know! I don't kn-"

The woman shuddered and pushed back, hand over her mouth while she tried to suppress vomiting. She dashed over to the garbage pail and threw up, Lloyd flinching and rushing over to her side, pulling her hair back.

Dammit what …when had all this happened? Why? And Colette- Colette had known about it. She had been dealing with it all this time and…

"Why didn't you tell me?" he whispered, more hurt than angry. "Colette…"

"I- I wanted you to be happy," she choked, "I wanted you to be happy with her as long as you could before…before...Lloyd- Oh Lloyd I'm so sorry-"

She choked up again, fighting another stomach-emptying.,

"Colette- Colette calm down, it's okay.." he whispered, "I- this isn't your fault, all right? It's not your fault…"

It wasn't. She had been told she had to die too. It wasn't her fault, it wasn't Arie's fault, it wasn't anyone's fault…

No. No that wasn't true. It was someone's fault. It was…it was Cruxis' fault, they had done this, they had decreed his daughter's death and before that Colette's. They had ruined his family before he had even thought to have one. They wanted his daughter to die-

No.

No no no no no!

He couldn't let that happen..he wouldn't let it happen!

He walked away from Colette, pulling open the closet and yanking out a traveling case.

"Wh- Lloyd? What are you-?" Colette stammered, stunned.

"Packing, get your things," he said flatly.

"Wh- what? Packing- what are you?" she stared at him, trying to process what she was hearing.

"We're leaving, Colette," he said, turning to look at her, his russet eyes narrowed dangerously. "We're getting our things together and we're taking Arie and leaving."

"What- we- we can't-!"

"I'm not letting her die, Colette," he said darkly, his face furrowing into a deep frown.

"I- I- but-but Lloyd we can't just- even if we did, the Church will try to bring her back and- and the world will die still! We'll all die! Everyone-"

She choked up again, covering her mouth and then sobbing..

"Colette-"

"I should have died." she said again, sobbing. "I should have died, I should be the one to die, not her- not-"

"No one is going to die!" He snapped, straightening to his full height. "You're not going to die; Arie isn't going to die- the world isn't going to die! I'm not going to let anyone die!"

His fists clenched at his sides, scanning all the facts in his head, over and over. There had to be a way, he wasn't going to let this happen- he wasn't going to let anyone die for anyone else; he wasn't going to let anyone die at all. He'd find something, there had to be another way, and even if there wasn't- he wasn't going to just go along with this without even trying! He wasn't going to just quit.

"We…we'll tell Phaidra and the church that we're taking her on a trip, that we're going to take her to see the world since she's going to have to…since she has to see the world she's going to say," he said, already formulating his exact words in his hand, "We'll say just us, because it'd be safer if no one knows it's us…going with a lot of people would draw the Desians attention…"

"W- we..what?" Colette stared at him. "Travel the world…"

"Yes." he said flatly, turning back to the suitcase. "Travel the world and look for a way to save the world without killing her."

"But- can we- I-"

He frowned and straightened again, looking over at his wife. She was afraid, confused, doubtful, sorrowful…he could understand he supposed. She had been taught all her life to die for the world, that this was all right…but now it was their daughter they were trying to tell her it was okay to die- no, to kill. To kill. They were telling her that to kill their daughter was to save the world, that this was 'okay'. They couldn't forsake the world, no, and he had no intention of that. There were other families in this world, other mothers fretting for their children, other little girls, other fathers trying to keep them alive. No he wasn't going to forsake the world, but he wasn't going to let his daughter die.

"Colette." he said again, softer. "We're going to go and we're going to save her; the world too."

He crossed the room to her, taking her into his arms.

"I promise, Colette." he breathed into her ear. "Do you hear me? I promise I'll find a way."

* * *

><p>"Lloyd, you know we can't possibly allow this-"<p>

"Phaidra," he replied flatly, his eyes narrowed on her. "If she- …if she has to do this for the world than at the very least she should be allowed to see the world she has to die for."

The old woman looked at him a long moment and sighed, seated in her chair. She scanned the man before her, he was what…twenty-seven now? Ten years had passed already since then, how odd to think about that… Briefly she wondered, looking upon the man that had replaced the boy. He was tall, broad, intimidating; his angry expression had become more and more menacing over the years, to the point few would argue with him. There was something final about him, something that wordlessly said that to cross him would not be very wise, something that seemed to hint at a deeper, hidden power…

Briefly she wondered if the rumors and those suspicions from long ago were correct; after all she often found herself wondering if it was indeed an angry angel that confronted her.

Besides, the Chosen looked too much like him not to be his child, it only seemed to add up…

"Lloyd…look…" she sighed.

"No," he said flatly, "You- we'll only be gone a year or two, that's plenty early for her to be here to accept the oracle. I- she deserves to see this world, Phaidra, and I'm going to do this with or without your permission. It'd mean a lot if you would make this easy."

The old woman scanned him, considering his words. She knew better than to think he was bluffing, he was stubborn as all get-out. Still…

Perhaps she should listen to him, though…after all, it could be this man that spoke to her was more than a man, in reality…. The Goddess worked in mysterious ways after all.

"Very well, Lloyd." she gave in with a weak nod, "You may leave tomorrow."

"We're leaving today." Lloyd said as he got to his feet, turning from her.

"Lloyd-"

"Today."

He left without another word.

Their things were almost completely packed already as it was; the only thing left was to say goodbye and leave. There wouldn't be many people he found worth saying goodbye to, as Dirk had been the first to know and the Sages not that long after. In fact the only one that had yet to really know what was going on…was sitting on the couch, kicking her feet and frowning.

"Hey," he smiled gently as he walked up to her. "How are you doing honey?"

"What's going on?" she asked quietly, though her eyes were dull and uninterested. "Why are we getting stuff like …this?"

"We're going on a trip, honey." He smiled gently, ruffling her hair. "You me and your mother, we're going to travel around and…see stuff. Doesn't that sound fun?"

She looked at him a moment, a tinge of curiosity sparking to life in her eyes.

"I can go too?" she asked, blinking.

"Of course you're coming, honey." He chuckled softly, kissing her forehead. "I just said you were going."

"I'm allowed to go?" she furrowed her little face into a frown. "But I have to stay here."

"Who said that?" his eyes narrowed a bit. "We're your parents, we decide what you have to do, understand?"

"But I'm the Chosen." She said quietly, her eyes downcast once again. "I have to stay in the village and…."

"You may be the Chosen, but you are my daughter, got that?" he replied, trying to keep the venom out of his voice. "Your mother and I decide what you do, only us-"

"But the Chosen has to do what she's told." Her voice came quietly, her expression blank.

"You're Arie." He snapped. "Not 'the Chosen', okay? You're Arie. Arie Irving. You're my daughter and-"

To his surprise, right out of nowhere the little girl began to cry, burying her face into her little hands. Lloyd recoiled a bit, a little shocked at the sudden outburst, but immediately repressed it in turn for comforting his child.

"Arie-? Arie, it's okay, I wasn't- I'm not mad at you or anything, okay? Arie-"

"You are my daddy, right?" she blurted between sobs, wiping her eyes.

Lloyd's mind blanked.

"What?" he blurted, staring at her.

"They told me an angel was my daddy!" she sobbed, curling up onto a little ball on the couch. "They said you weren't my real daddy- they said an angel was my daddy and I had to do what Martel wanted me to do or I would make my real daddy sad!"

Lloyd didn't say a word. He scooped the little girl into his arms and walked over to the mirror hanging on the wall, Arie sniffing and wiping her eyes, looking up at him curiously.

"Look at the mirror, Arie." He said.

She sniffed, turning her big brown eyes to the reflective surface, cradled in her father's arms.

"What color is your hair?" he asked, looking down at her, then at the mirror.

"B…Brown." She sniffed.

"Right, brown, like mine." He nodded. "See? Our hair is the same color. Now what about our eyes? What color are they?"

"Brown." She murmured again, her little arms wrapping as far as they could around his chest.

"That's right. Our eyes are both brown too." He nodded.

"So- so…you are my real daddy, right?" She sniffed, looking up at him.

"Yes." he nodded, his eyes locked on hers. "And Arie, even if you were an angel's daughter, I'm still your real daddy."

The young girl blinked, rubbing her eyes, staring up at him in confusion. A small smile graced his lips and he kissed her forehead.

"I'm your real daddy, Arie, because I love you." he said, running a hand through her hair. "I love you and I won't let anything happen to you, ever. That's what real mommies and daddies do, they love their children, and they keep them safe."

Arie sniffed, wiping her eyes and looking up at him. Lloyd smiled gently at her again, holding her close as she started to cry again.

"I'm going to keep you safe, Arie, I'm not going to let you get hurt." He said. "Do you hear me? You're not going to get hurt. I won't let you, ever."

He would find a way, he swore to himself right then; he would find a way to save the world without her getting hurt, without her- without her dying. If need be he would confront Martel herself, he would contest all the angels of Cruxis and mow down any Desian that'd come between him and his goal.

He'd bring Cruxis to its knees if he had to.

**I love how Lloyd's determination is pretty much …exactly what he'll need. Lol. Especially that last line there. Seeing as he is…going to need to. Heh.**

**Review if you would like **


	6. Chapter 6

**Yaaaaay I managed to update something :) many huzzahs. Now let's see if I can update Angels Among Us...**

**Disclaimer:I own nothing :(**

"Daddy, how much longer is it?"

"We'll get to the House of Salvation by nighttime," Lloyd told her, looking at the toddler as she rode astride Noishe.

"Are you sleepy, sweetie?" Colette asked, scanning her child.

She had been worried ever since they had left, but Lloyd supposed that was to be expected. Colette herself had never left the village unless it was to go to the temple, she was probably

just as wary as Arie was curious; and curious she was. It was good to see her big brown eyes alight again, scanning the road and the tree groves, the small animals scurrying about. She seemed excited about their journey, which was quite a relief to see after that...revelation, had been made to her...and to him.

"Of course she's sleepy," Genis said from the side. "She's six, she's probably bored too."

"A little bit..." the girl said softly, fidgeting in her seat as she hung her head, as if ashamed.

"Hey, dont' worry about it Arie." Genis smiled. "Here, let's play a game, okay? Sis used to play it with me when I was little and we traveled..."

Lloyd listened a bit as Genis explained a word game to his daughter, though he kept his eyes on the road. It was a bit reassuring to have the half-elf

along with them, even if it was only until Treit. It made things a little less awkward, Lloyd thought. Instead of just the three of them, walking with the thought of Arie's 'destiny' hanging over their heads. Genis didn't know, yes, and he felt a little guilty for not telling him, but... Genis had heard they were leaving, and claimed that he had an errand to run in Treit, thus talking his way along

Lloyd wasn't sure if that had been true or not, or just how much Genis knew...but they didn't mind the company, in reality. That and Genis was an adept mage, it'd help to have him around in case they were attacked...

His grip tightened around the hilt of his sword. If they were, he would do what was necessary, he wouldnt' allow himself any hesitation. For years, he had strived to keep his skills sharp, to train and hone himself, so that the day Arie left on her journey he would not only be healthy enough to accompany her but strong enough to defend her himself. In a way, that day had come...

Though this wasn't at all what he had expected. It didn't matter, though, he far preferred it to be this way; searching for a way to save his daughter instead of blindly leading her to her death...

Where would they start? In all honesty, he didn't quite know yet. The old church scriptures..maybe there would be some kind of clue in them? His ability with the angelic language had never quite reached Colette's, but he could understand it well enough. Then there was the seals...where they were exaclty, he didn't know, but if he could find them himself maybe there could be something?

Then there was the Spiritua book...yeah, she had been successful, right? There had to be something in there he could use- ...'Successful'...she had died. A teenage girl had saved the world and die in order to do so. How close had Colette been, to being that? How close was Arie, to being-? No. He shook his head. It wouldn't happen. He wouldn't allow it to happen.

Luckily the rest of their day was uneventful. Well, aside from a couple monster encounters. Those had gone easily enough, Noishe and Colette had kept Arie safe, while he and Genis had taken care of the monsters. Lloyd's thoughts during the fight were focused mainly on his child, constantly keeping his position relative to her so that he could best defend them. Colette had assisted with her chakrams and Genis had proved more than valuable with his spells, but Lloyd's mind had focused on protecting his family and whatever was necessary in order to do such. The fighting itself had not been very difficult, he had been practicing out of the village when he had the opportunity for years. As soon as the fight was over he turned to his family, scanning them over quickly for injuries, as long as his family was all right he found nothing to dwell on.

Arie, however, did.

She had been scared, but they told her scary things would probably happen, that she had to be brave. Mommy had stayed by her, protecting her, and Daddy had fought the scary monsters , keeping them away from them. She knew Daddy and Mommy could fight, and she had seen Mommy practice sometimes, but she had never seen Daddy do it. The little girl was scared, very scared, but she held tight to Noishe's neck and didn't cry; she was going to be brave, like Daddy. She kept her eyes closed at first, trying not to whimper, but then chanced a peek after a moment.

After that she couldn't pull her eyes away.

Daddy was strong.

Her eyes widened as she watched him, a blur of red dancing around with flashing blades. Of course, she saw the blood from the monsters, and it scared her, but she focused on her father alone. He was fast, so fast! And every time he moved it was graceful, like dancing, like when he and Mommy would dance during festivals. She watched her father, starry-eyed, the man seeming larger than life to her, as all parents seem to their children at such ages.

"Are you okay, Pumpkin?"

She looked up as her Daddy picked her up, a small smile on his face as he rubbed her back.

"I know it was scary, but we're going to keep you safe, okay?" he asked.

Arie stared at him a moment before nodding rapidly, hugging her father tightly.

"I'm not scared," she said somewhat stubbornly. "Daddy is the strongest ever! Daddy and Mommy and Uncle Genis are gonna protect me, right?"

Her father blinked, Colette managing a soft giggle as Lloyd gently ruffled her hair.

"Yes, we're going to protect you just like I promised," he said, smiling softly.

He'd keep that promise, he told himself, hoping that his daughter's faith in him would be enough to fuel that into a reality.

* * *

><p>"...Colette?"<p>

She was crying, sitting on the edge of the bed. He frowned, sitting up in the dark room. Lloyd sat next to her, gently wrapping his arms around her.

"Colette? …What's wrong?"

"I- n- nothing, I just-"

"Don't lie to me, Colette," he said softly.

They sat together in the darkness, in silence, for…well in reality it was probably a few minutes, but seemed to be much longer. Colette sniffed, wiping her eyes and turning half onto his lap, cuddling up to him. Lloyd stiffened a bit, still a little awkward about having her so…close. He felt heat burn up to his ears, thinking of their honeymoon night not four days ago-

"I'm just…" Colette whispered. "Scared."

"Scared-…Colette, why? I- I mean, I guess I'm a little scared too," he said, glancing aside a bit as he held her a little closer. "I mean…it's a big step and all, I guess- well, yeah it is. Just..well, we're in it together aren't we? So we'll get through, won't we?"

His wife didn't respond for a moment, then pulled back, looking up at him. She regarded him a moment, then cuddled into his chest again.

"Yes..you're right, Lloyd," she said softly. "We have each other, so- so things will- we'll get through, right? We'll get through everything together…"

"Of course we will, Colette." Lloyd kissed her gently, trying to ignore the flush on his cheek that still crept into his skin. "And- if anything happens, I'll protect you, all right? I promise, I'll protect you and- and…our kids."

They both fell silent a moment as the gravity of the concept sank in. Kids. Children. It meant different things to both of them, in reality, though regardless of the way they viewed the idea it was still a very big one.

"We'll have some good looking kids, huh?" Lloyd cracked a smirk in an attempt to lighten their moods.

Colette giggled softly, leaning against him.

"Yeah…I think we will."

* * *

><p>"Lloyd…you're still up."<p>

Lloyd glanced over at his wife from his spot on the edge of the bed, staring at their child sleeping in the single bed next to them. He wasn't sure what time it was, past midnight by now he figured. It didn't really matter much.

"Yeah…couldn't sleep," he said with an apologetic smile.

Colette looked at him, then glanced over to their daughter who slept soundly in the single bed. Genis occupied another single bed across the room, snoring softly. It was one of the 'family' rooms they had at the rest-point, though usually the single beds were assumed to be occupied both by children. Still, the beds were large enough that Genis had no complaints, and he had fallen asleep fairly quickly, Arie not soon after.

It seemed it was only Lloyd that had yet to sleep that night.

"She's…gotten big hasn't she?" Lloyd said softly, his eyes misted. "She was just a little baby not long ago…"

"Yes…" Colette replied just as softly.

They both sat in silence, scanning the sleeping brunette girl.

"I figured we'd go to the churches," Lloyd said. "Look through the scriptures, see if there's anything that could give us a lead. Palmacosta has the Book of Spiritua, doesn't it? That's got to have something in it. We can try that, or the ruins- the summon spirits are connected to the journey too aren't they? I figured I could look around the places they say spirits are and see if-"

Colette arms silently wrapped around him, cutting off her husband's words. He did not jerk or stammer, merely fell silent, looking at Arie.

"We'll…do whatever we can, right, Lloyd?" Colette said softly. "That's what you said, right? We're going to do whatever we can…all we can."

"Yeah…" Lloyd nodded, his jaw set. "Everything we can."

Finally he did manage to get to sleep, though he woke up early regardless of his lack of rest. Lloyd headed down to the first floor of the House, where the pews and altar were situated. Every House of Salvation was a church as well as a rest-stop, as such they all had various scriptures and the like. Here he would start his search then, looking for clues that would lead to the solution he sought.

"Excuse me, Pastor," Lloyd spoke up, catching the old man in his morning prayers.

The aging male looked up, scanning him a moment before breaking out into a rather unexpected smile.

"Why Martel be blessed, if it isn't Lloyd!"

Lloyd flinched, freezing in his tracks and staring down at the old man as he got to his feet.

"Oh, you don't remember me? I came by Iselia on a pilgrimage a few years ago, I visited Phaidra," he said. "Though I suppose it was a couple years ago, the young Chosen was just beginning to walk."

The swordsman tensed.

"Ah…"

"Phaidra sent a message in advance," the man said. "You are taking the Chosen to see the world, an admirable idea…in an ideal situation, however are you sure this is wise? It is dangerous outside of the village for her-"

"Which is why we're not going to be parading around telling everyone she's the Chosen," Lloyd said curtly, a harsh edge to his voice that he hadn't even decided to make. "It will be safer her for her that way, then, so you can understand why I requested no one know about this?"

The old man flinched and for a moment Lloyd felt a pang of guilt; he'd startled him pretty badly..

"Ah- …yes, of course, my apologies," he said with a polite nod. "I will respect the wishes of the Chosen's father."

Lloyd frowned, his fingers twitching a bit on the hilt of his sword before he forced himself to calm.

"I have a request, I would like to see any scriptures or documentation about the Journey of Regeneration, or anything related to it."

"Oh? Well- of course." The clergyman nodded. "I'll open the library for you."

For a moment the man scanned him, as if expecting something, but merely succeeded in making Lloyd fidget under his scrutiny.

"What is it?" Lloyd asked after a moment.

"Ah- nothing-…actually that is not true, perhaps we can discuss it in the library, in private?"

Lloyd hesitated a moment, eyeing the old man and then the area as if expecting it somehow would tell him what to do. A frown worked into his face but he nodded.

"All right."

He followed the clergyman into the locked room to the side, where several shelves of angelic text where stored. The pastor scanned the books a moment then nodded, turning to Lloyd as he lit the lamp.

"Feel free to use whatever you need, just make sure you put it back when you are done."

"I will, thanks." Lloyd eyed him. "What was it you wanted to talk to me about then?"

The pastor went silent a moment, scanning him.

"It's merely speculation, mind you, but I can't help but lend my ear to it sometimes you know…a lot of speculation has been given, about you, Lloyd."

"…." Lloyd frowned. "Yes, I know. So what exactly is it that's bothering you then?"

"I realize it may not be my place, but I find I must ask anyway…" he looked up at him. "One thing the texts show is that angels are capable of hiding their wings. They can make them undetectable to humans, the Chosen that become angels have that ability as well-"

Lloyd's jaw clenched.

"I am not an angel," he snapped, his eyes narrowing. "I realize people have been spreading rumors of that since Colette and I were- engaged, but that's-"

"Begging your pardon," the man said, frowning. "I was merely curious. …You've become rather surly over the years, Phaidra said, I am sorry that the burden your family bears has caused you to become as such."

Lloyd flinched, the pastor already heading out of the room.

"If there is anything else you need, please let me know."

He took a few steps, then stopped.

"…Forgive me, it was not my place to question you."

Something in the way he said it sent a chill up Lloyd's spine, whipping his head around to look at the man who had already closed the door behind him.

What- what was that about? That tone of voice- Lloyd's fists clenched at his sides. Why? Why didn't they believe him? This was stupid! He was no angel, why did they keep making such crazy stupid conclusions?

Lloyd took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

Surly? …Yeah, he supposed he was surly. That pang of guilt returned; the old pastor hadn't mean to irritate him or anything, really now that he thought about it he had truly acted pretty aggressive…that was probably why, he told himself. It was because he was uppity and defensive he became convinced that he was-

"I don't have time for this…" he sighed, rubbing his face. "I got to get to work…"

Resolving that he would try to be more patient he began to scan the bookshelves. Though really, he found himself thinking, it wasn't entirely his fault. People kept buying into and spreading ridiculous rumors about him, it wasn't his fault- but then it wasn't the fault of some old man to just be curious, was it? The thought came bitterly and Lloyd let out another sigh.

Surly. Aggressive. Bitter. Was that really how he was? Had he really turned into a person like that over the years? Had the birth of his daughter really-

No. No it wasn't because of her birth, it was because of how everyone treated it. His daughter couldn't be blamed for how she came into this world, he would never think to blame her for something like that.

She had too much on her shoulders already…

Lloyd's face hardened in resolve, scanning the shelves again with renewed vigor. She wouldn't bear that burden, she wouldn't, he would find a way that she wouldn't have to. He would find a way to save this world, to save his family, without anyone having to die. No one would have to sacrifice themselves for this world, he'd find a way.

It was a few hours later when he woke up, sprawled over several open scrolls.

"Daddy? Daddy, it's daytime."

He groaned, lifting his head, his eyes blurry as he stared down at the angelic text.

"Ugh…huh?"

"Daddy you aren't supposed to nap on a desk."

Lloyd blinked once or twice, yawning deeply before lifting his head and looking to his side, where Arie pulled at his sleeve, her big brown eyes gazing up at him.

"Oh- yeah, sorry sweetie." He smiled weakly, patting her on the head. "Daddy was just tired, he didn't sleep very good last night- what time is it?"

"Breakfast," she said. "Mommy said to get you and you were reading stuff in here."

"Oh good, I didn't sleep too long then," he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

When did he even fall asleep? He had been fine for a while, hadn't he? He hadn't even felt tired or anything and then just- …he just passed out. Well that's what he got for not sleeping, he reprimanded himself. Still it was a little weird, usually once he was up he didn't …

"Daddy?"

"Huh-? Oh, yeah I heard you," he said, pushing his chair back and getting to his feet. "Come on. So what did Mommy make for breakfast?"

"Uncle Genis made it," she said.

Her little hand grasped up for his, small fingers curling around his hand. Lloyd curled his hand gently around hers in turn, a small smile coming to his face as he looked down at her.

"Ah…."

"Daddy? Why are you looking at me like that?" Arie blinked, tilting her head to the side.

"Just thinking of how beautiful my little pumpkin is." Lloyd grinned as they headed for the door.

"Daddddyyyy I'm not a pumpkin, that's a plant! That's what Uncle Genis said."

"Yeah well you're still my little pumpkin." He laughed. "Because I said so."

"You're silly, Daddy."

Lloyd smiled, eyes on her as they walked, watching how her little pigtails bounced as she trotted along attempting to keep pace with his long strides. She was so small…he wondered sometimes, how he must look like to her. Some huge, towering swordsman, reaching up trying to keep hold of his hand-

A flicker of memory swept through his head, like a jolt, there so clearly and then suddenly long gone. He frowned a bit, trying to recall what it was-

"Daddy! Daddy look! A kitty!"

He shook his head, directing his attention to his daughter once more. She had spotted the house's pet and as such was bouncing on her heels in excitement, rapidly asking in a loop if she could go over and pet it. A smile cracked his lips again, his eyes misting over a bit.

For a while he could just take the time to enjoy her, at least until after breakfast.

**Awwwwwww DaddyLloyd is so much fun to write lol. And since I know people will ask because of the flashback, yes, Kratos is going to be involved soon, as is the rest of the cast. I have my ways. MWAHAHAHA. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi. ..Yeah I have no comment. Lol.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

The veil shrouding her eyes only seemed to make him focus on her more. It looked like a halo, like the white fabric was glowing around her- or maybe it was that she was glowing herself. Maybe she was, with that smile, with those sparkling eyes and that cute little flush-

No. Get a hold of yourself. He swallowed. Don't gape at her like an idiot, smile back, or- do something, do something that'd be a good reaction to that dazzling look she gave him as she walked forward, her arm linked in Frank's. She was beautiful, so beautiful…

Before he realized it, she had reached him and he nearly froze, but forced himself to take her arm in turn. His heart beat rapidly in his chest, his face burning red as he looked down at her as she smiled up at him. They were alone again, like they had been when he first kissed her. It didn't matter how many people were there, how many of them were watching, it was just her sparkling blue eyes, their arms linked, that was all there was.

He repeated the vows he was told, though he didn't pay much attention to what was said. Just her lips moving as she spoke, the adorable flush on her cheeks, her soft hand clasped in his. He could've stood there forever, maybe, just stood there with her… For a moment he found himself almost glad that the angel had decreed what he had that day . For a moment he was nearly grateful to Cruxis, for leading to this, for leading to Colette being his wife, and he her husband.

Just for a moment though.

As soon as they had said their I dos it was back to reality, back to the priests and the onlookers and the incessant nosing around. The insincere wishes for their happiness, when he knew they were just eager for a new Chosen to be born. He had never thought he could be so irritated on his wedding day, never imagined he would have to be put through this. He was half ready to snap at someone when finally, suddenly , they were alone, standing in their own little home, his hand clasped in hers.

"…"

He looked at her and she looked up at him, and for a while neither of them spoke. What to say, now? What would they say or do now, what was next? For a moment both of them seemed completely lost, awkward, unsure…

"I-…I guess we're married now, huh?" he said dumbly, feeling stupid as he said it.

"Yeah…" she said, her cheeks flushed, glancing aside.

"So-so, we're alone now- ….."

They looked at each other, trying to ignore the rising heat in their cheeks. For a while neither of them said anything at all, though his arms slowly wrapped around her waist, and a small smile spread onto her lips.

"I-…are you happy, Colette?" he finally asked. "It- it's not too late you know, it really isn't, if- if you're not happy with me I-"

Colette brought up her fingers to his lips, quieting him, shaking her head softly. Her hand slid across his cheek to the side of his face.

"I'm happy," she said, looking up at him. "….I'm so happy, I can…be with you, Lloyd."

She reached up on her toes, gently pushing her lips to his.

He was more than happy to return the favor.

* * *

><p>"It's hot…"<p>

"I know baby, I know," Colette cooed, adjusting the little sun-hat over the girl's head. "We're almost there, then we'll stay inside where it's nice and cool, okay?"

"Okay…" Arie said quietly.

She was worn out, naturally she was, of course, seeing as the heat had sapped the energy out of all of them. The child grumbled quietly to herself, scanning the dunes of sand.

"It'll be all right, pumpkin," Lloyd said with a weak smile, looking at her over his shoulder.

"'Shot," the girl grumbled, pouting as she bobbed up and down on Noishe's back.

"Are you thirsty?" He said, turning as he untied the canteen from his belt. "Here, drink some."

The girl looked up at him with her big brown eyes and Lloyd smiled, opening the canteen and letting her grab it with her two little hands. He kept his own hand on the bottom of the canteen to support , seeing as the vessel was too large for her little hands, and they couldn't afford to spill any water. She tilted her head up, gulping loudly as the shadows crept upwards on her face when she tilted her head up, the hat just barely keeping her eyes shaded.

Lloyd smiled weakly, taking the canteen and recapping it when she was done, patting her head.

"Better?" he said.

"Uh-huh," she smiled a bit, nodding.

"Good, you just hang in there."

It couldn't be much longer, could it? He frowned as he faced the front again. There was no church in Triet, as far as he knew, so really stopping there'd be a waste of time…if not for the fact they'd all need to rest and resupply. Still, one of the seals was supposed to be in this area, so he had heard. Some ruins to the west of the city, he'd heard….if he could find the seals themselves, there was a good chance they'd give him some valuable clues. Still, he couldn't bring Arie somewhere dangerous like that, and he couldn't just leave her and Colette in the city by themselves…he could leave Genis with them, he figured, but it wasn't smart to traverse the desert all by one's self….

"Look, there you go, kiddo," Genis said, scattering his thoughts. "There's the city, up ahead."

"Yay!" Arie cheered, bouncing up and down on Noishe's back. "Almost there!"

Sure enough, the city was in their sights. Lloyd sighed quietly in relief, he had hoped it wouldn't be too much longer, after all. Still, how was he going to go about this…dammit, maybe he should've asked Raine- no, no she was busy enough with her own life. They'd find a way….

He assumed it was a bit past noon when they entered the city, quickly making their way to the inn, where the clay structure was far cooler than the outside sun. Noishe had to be kept in the pen outside, so Arie ended up being carried in his arms. They had nearly put her down to walk, but the child looked so tired she might fall over if they did. The heat really drained the strength out of them, he frowned, holding her to him in one arm as he opened the door, leading Colette and Genis in.

"All right, Genis, could you see about getting us some supplies?" he asked. "Colette, you sit down with Arie and rest while I go get rooms for us."

Colette nodded wearily, sitting on one of the lobby chairs and holding her arms out for Arie, as Lloyd passed the half-asleep girl into her care. Lloyd cracked a soft smile at his family before heading to the front desk.

However that's when he noticed the problem.

A group of who- based on what he heard of the conversation- were probably researchers, much like Raine, were in a heated argument with several mercenaries.

"Those prices are ludicrous! We can't afford that!"

"Then you'll just have to go without protection, the west desert is dangerous, you won't last an hour with all those monsters."

"This is extortion!" another researcher snapped. "You know we have to get to the ruins, otherwise our entire trip will have been for nothing! You can't-"

"Not our problem now is it?"

"Excuse me," Lloyd spoke up, walking toward the group. "Did I hear you say you were going to the ruins in the western desert?"

The lead scientist scanned him, Lloyd noted how he eyed the swords at his belt. He frowned a moment then nodded.

"Yes, rumor has it it's the Seal of Fire for the Journey of Regeneration," he nodded. "But we're having…issues with transportation right now. May I ask why?

"It so happens I'm in need of going there as well," Lloyd said. "It's not smart to travel on your own, obviously, and I'd prefer that the other person in my party stay here with my wife. If you need protection, I'm pretty adept with my swords, I'd accompany you if you wish."

The man rose an eyebrow, looking around at his comrades before back at him.

"How much?"

"I don't need-…" Lloyd frowned, scanning them and then back at Colette and Arie.

"Beg pardon," a female researcher spoke up. "Is that your wife over there? Is that your daughter? The little girl?"

"Yes," Lloyd nodded, cracking a weak smile. "She's a bit worn out from the trip…"

"We can't possibly ask you to go for free then," she said firmly.

"Truthfully, we can't offer too much," the lead one said. "But we'll gladly give you what we can spare, for the little one."

"Oh come on," one mercenary snapped. "One swordsman isn't going to be able to handle it."

"Well that depends on the one wielding the sword, doesn't it?" Lloyd said flatly, raising an eyebrow.

The man looked like he was going to argue, but flinched, scanning Lloyd warily, as if realizing something. Lloyd frowned slightly. He seemed to have that effect on people in arguments, over the past couple years…Raine said it was because he had an air of confidence that intimidated most, though he wasn't sure he bought that…

"Wait, isn't that an exsphere?" one mercenary muttered to his companion.

"An exsphere-? …Oh hell…yeah we don't want any trouble with him then."

Lloyd frowned but then noticed no one other than the mercenary spoken to seemed to hear him. How strange, the researchers were right there, they didn't hear that? He was further away than they were…

"Fine, do what you want," the lead mercenary scoffed. "Let's go guys."

They little troupe left the building, the researchers turning their full attention to Lloyd.

"Thank you so much, we greatly appreciate it, you have no idea how much this means to us," the first man said. "We plan to leave in a couple hours-…are you sure you can leave then? You just got here after all, you must be tired."

"I'm fine," he said. "I have a high stamina, I suppose."

Oddly, he wasn't very tired. He frowned, glancing back at his family, remembering how beat Genis was. Sure, he was tired, but he didn't seem to be as nearly hot as the others were….but he was fine, he was sure. Besides, he needed to get at this 'seal' soon as possible, any clue he could find that would save his daughter was worth the risk…

"Well..if you're certain, thank you," he nodded.

"It's about two days trip there and back," the woman said. "You should go check in with your family."

Lloyd nodded.

"I will, thank you," he said with a small smile. "And…if you're sure you can pay me I appreciate it, but if you can't you really don't have to worry about it. I need to go that direction at any rate-"

"Nonsense," the woman snapped again, hands on her hips. "We just couldn't afford to pay for those ruffians! We came prepared with funds to pay for a mercenary, but not highway robbery!"

"What she means is," said a slightly younger man who had been quiet up until then. "Is don't worry about it. We're happy for your help."

Lloyd nodded again.

"You're welcome…you're..archaeologists, I'm guessing?"

"Yes."

"Heh, Professor Sage would be thrilled to meet you…."

"Sage? Raine Sage?"

"You know her?" Lloyd frowned.

Now that he thought about it, it really wasn't that strange. For a couple years now, Raine had been traveling about, on her own or with caravans. She said that now that Genis could take care of himself she didn't need to be around 'constantly', and thus stated she was going to devote a few years to her research. She visited the village occasionally, though never for very long. Really, given how …she was, it really wouldn't be a surprise that she had made an impact on her fellow researchers.

"Yes, of course! Her theories are fantastic!"

"Truly a gifted mind!"

"I'm so jealous, I wish I met her in person…"

Well sounded like she certainly had made a name for herself…

Still, as of now he had to talk to Colette and Genis. Firstly, he had to get the rooms. He managed to get the rooms for them for the next two days, and an extra day in case they were delayed, then walked over to his family and his friend.

"Okay I restocked what we needed," Genis said as he walked over. "So what happened? We saw you talking to those people over there."

"Yes…" he looked at Colette. "They need to head to the Fire Seal, so I said I'd accompany them there. There might be something there that will help us."

"Oh, I'll go with you then-"

"No, Genis, I want you to stay with Colette and Arie," he said, shaking his head, "I don't want them to be alone in the city."

"Wh-? But-"

"Lloyd, why didn't you ask me first?" Colette frowned, obviously upset.

"Huh-?" Lloyd blinked, frowning. "I- …well we can't leave Arie here, and we can't bring here out there, and I don't want you to be alone here-"

"I know that," she said, frowning a bit. "It works this way, I'm not upset about that, I just…wished you'd talked to me about it first. I'll worry about you, you know, so…"

Lloyd frowned, feeling guilty suddenly.

"I- …I'm sorry Colette," he said, taking her hand. "You're right. We're going to be traveling like this together and we should talk about things before we do them. I'm sorry."

Colette smiled weakly and Genis huffed, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah and just ignore me, that's fine," he muttered.

"Wait- Daddy's going somewhere?" Arie spoke up, stirring from her grogginess. "Where are you going, Daddy?"

Lloyd twitched, then smiled weakly as he knelt down to look at his daughter.

"I'm going to go away for a couple days, okay, pumpkin?" he said, putting his hand on her head. "I'll be back, but you're going to stay here with Mommy and Uncle Genis for a couple days, okay?"

Arie flinched, her eyes widening. She shook her head violently, the pigtails flapping about.

"No! Daddy, don't go!" she said, grabbing his wrist above her head. "Stay, Daddy! I'll miss you!"

"Pumpkin, it's all right, I'll be back-" he started.

Then he realized.

This would be the first time he'd been away from her overnight.

He froze, staring at his daughter, who sniffled, her eyes brimming with tears. Had it- was it really the first time? Had he really not been away from her for more than a few hours since she'd been born? Strange, to think about….

"Hey…" he said. "It's all right. You're a big girl, you can do it, right?"

Lloyd smiled a bit more, though Arie merely sniffled, her lip quivering.

"It's okay, sweetie," Colette said softly, giving her a small hug. "Daddy will be back soon, we're going to have fun here with Genis, right?"

"No!" she shook her head. "I want Daddy to stay!"

Lloyd sighed, frowning a bit as he tried to think of how to reassure his daughter. The child whimpered, a couple tears slipping loose.

"No, Arie…don't cry, it's okay-"

"I want Daddy to stay," she sniffed, hanging her head as she gripped his wrist tighter. "You said you were gonna stay with me, Daddy. You said you were gonna protect me, you can't do that if you go away, don't go away."

"…Sweetie…" he said softly. "It's only a couple days, I'm going to be right back. Of course I'm going to protect you, but Mommy and Uncle Genis are going to too, okay? So don't you worry."

When she didn't respond he spoke again, his voice softer.

'You have to be brave, okay, Pumpkin?"

The girl sniffed and slowly looked up, releasing his wrist to wipe her eyes.

"I- I have to be brave, strong and brave, like Daddy," she said.

He smiled weakly.

"Ye-"

He cut off, a flash of a memory racing across his mind. 'Strong and brave like Daddy'…when he was young, going through the woods, trying to find his parents, his father-

Gone again.

"Lloyd?"

"Daddy?"

"Nothing," he shook his head, forcing a smile for his daughter. "Yes, Arie, be strong and brave, you are, you're a big girl."

He gave her a small hug, which she returned, burying her face into his chest.

"I'm not going just yet, so I'll play with you until I have to go, okay?"

"Okay," Arie said quietly, sniffling up the last of her tears.

"Come on then, let's get into the room and cool off." Colette smiled, going to stand, wrapping her arms around Arie.

"No!" the girl wiggled. "I want Daddy to carry me!"

"Arie, that's not nice-" Lloyd frowned.

"No no, it's all right," Colette smiled with a light giggle. "She just wants to hang out with her daddy for a little while, I'll play with her more than enough later."

Lloyd hesitated then sighed, gathering her back up into his arms.

"There, happy?" he teased lightly, smiling at the girl.

"Uh huh!" she grinned, kicking her feet a little. "I'm up high! You're tall, Daddy."

He chuckled softly, gathering up what he could with his free arm.

"Daddy why is your hair all spiky?" she asked suddenly.

"Huh-? …Because…it is."

"Why?"

"I thought you were tired." Genis rose an eyebrow, shaking his head. "Kid rebounds faster than you do, Lloyd."

"Hah hah," Lloyd rolled his eyes. "Now come on, we're all tired. Even this little pumpkin here is going to be needing a nap soon, she always gets hyper right before she falls asleep."

"I don't want to take a nap." Arie mumbled darkly, eying her father.

"Of course you don't," he chuckled.

She was fast asleep by the time it was time for him to leave.

**ARIIIIIEEE YOU"RE SO DAMN CUUUUUUUTEEE**

**Review?**


	8. Chapter 8

**..Woots More DaddyLloydness coming at you ;)**

**Disclaimer: I still own nothing. Why don't I get donations for this like they do on youtube? D8 lol I'm kidding**

Nothing.

They had trekked all the way into the desert and they reached the ruins, and there was nothing. The scientists enjoyed what ruins were there, that was true, but there was nothing to help him. Nothing seemed to give any sort of connection except for the oracle stone in front of the sealed entrance. He frowned, walking back to it, scanning the stone.

The crest of Colette's family- his family- the mana lineage, was carved into the stone surface. He had heard one of them tell him that it was designed to recognize the mana of the Chosen. How a piece of stone did that, he wasn't sure, he just knew he had scanned that thing top to bottom and it hadn't given him so much as an idea.

Well…it had given him ideas but nothing helpful. It just brought to mind the image of his Arie, sixteen, placing her hand on that stone and starting off for her death.

His grip tightened on his hilt.

That wasn't going to happen. He wasn't going to let it. One more look, there had to be something.

He knelt down, scanning the stone from the bottom up, brushing away sand in places. Eventually he reached the top, scanning the flat surface with a frown. Maybe there was something else written there, under the dust? He brushed his hand over it and then suddenly- well, he hadn't expected it.

A surge of pain shot through his left hand, as if someone had poked him with a burning stick. He choked down a yelp and drew his hand back, but noticed the strange glow the stone gave off, that and the door to the ruins …'shuddered'. It didn't open, but it shifted, and the sound was enough to catch the attention of the researchers.

What the hell? It had…responded to him-?

"What did you do?" one of them immediately asked him.

"I- I was just looking at it," he said, shaking his head.

"You touched the stone?"

"Well…yes but obviously I'm not the Chosen," he said with a huff, scanning the stone.

They eyed him and he tried not to fidget, frowning to himself.

"Do it again, touch the stone."

Lloyd scanned the speaker a moment before eying the stone. It ad to just be a fluke right? It was supposed to react to the Chosen- even if it was just to the mana lineage in general, he had married into the line, he wasn't part of it. So it didn't make sense…

Still, something was odd here.

"Please, Mr. Lloyd?"

Lloyd sighed, glancing at the scientist before placing his hand on the stone again. Once again the slab shuddered and that same pain shot through his hand. This time he hissed, pulling his hand back and rubbing his left one- wait, his exsphere hand…

Of course, none of the researchers cared about that tidbit, they were too busy going into a frenzy about the door.

"How did that happen?"

"He's obviously not the Chosen, why did the stone react?"

Another scientist touched to stone out of curiosity, not surprisingly, nothing happened. Lloyd frowned, rubbing the back of his hand as he slowly tried to drift away from the frenzied researchers. Great, just great, he should've just refused to have- but…why did it react? He was just as perplexed as they were….could it possibly have something to do with his exsphere? He knew it was unlike normal ones, though he had yet to really see why that was the case- could this be it? But then why would an exsphere have anything to do with Cruxis?

"Mr. Lloyd-"

Whatever the man was going to ask, he never found out. Just that moment the ground began to shake violently, knocking some of the group off their feet. Lloyd whirled around, hearing- he wasn't sure what, but it sounded like something very large was-

Sand erupted into the sky, blowing past them as a gigantic worm like creature emerged from the sands. It was lined with rows and rows of sharp appendages, and its mouth appeared to be even more heavily armored, with huge gnashing teeth.

Ah hell….

The group shouted and scrambled, but the beast had closed them into the area, the rock walls were on all sides of the ruin itself. Lloyd grit his teeth, drawing his blades and rushing forward. What kind of damage he could do against this thing, he wasn't sure, but he did know if he did nothing they'd all end up worm-bait. Naturally, his charge attracted the creature's attention, and it made several snaps for him, shrieking.

Lloyd evaded each assault, side-stepping and slicing into the side of its head, though from the looks of it he succeeded in only scratching the monster. It whipped around, barely missing his leg as he backed up. Okay okay, maybe he could lure it away enough for the scientists to escape, then once they were clear he could run for it himself-

It swiped for him again.

On instinct he dodged to the side and in what seemed like a single instant, his eyes locked with the globular black ones of the creature. Like a sudden spark, he knew what to do and then simply acted. Quickly he drove a blade into the eye, withdrawing quickly as the beast began to shriek, flailing.

Well he'd made it madder…

He retreated, keeping faced toward it as he attempted to lead it out of the escape route. It had to swerve its head to look at him, but Lloyd figured it probably was more focused on his smell. That and the fact he was now covered in its eye 'juice'.

…Which was pretty disgusting now that he thought of it, but he had bigger issues to deal with.

"Come on you big piece of fish bait!" Lloyd snapped, trying to keep it after him.

It lunged for him.

Something strange happened then, he wasn't quite sure what to make of it. He had nearly gone to dodge to the side when instead, just as its head passed over him, he ducked, slamming his sword up into its underbelly. The creature's momentum made it continue forward, slicing its innards out form its stomach. That wasn't the odd part though, as odd as that sounded. When the body began to collapse on top of him, a strange surge of..something, flashed through his body. There was a slight burn from his exsphere as he pushed himself- and the massive monster- up. In one quick motion Lloyd had gotten to his feet, easily lifting the beast over his head and slamming it into the ground with such force the ground beneath shuddered, the sand sinking under the weight of the now dead monster.

Lloyd panted but could only stare a moment. The burn on his left hand had diminished but still stung minutely as he registered what he had just done. How- how had he..he had lifted it, not only lifted it, thrown it. How was that possible? There was no way he could lift that thing, no human being could possibly lift something like that, even with an exsphere. Lloyd frowned, stepping back and sheathing his swords, his right hand rubbing the exsphere on his opposing one.

He wasn't the only one that was amazed by this, of course.

"That- that was incredible!"

The gaggle of scientists had crowded around, half eying him and half eying the fallen beast. One brave one had already dared to approach the corpse and was examining it curiously. It was the look Raine often got in her eyes over something that piqued her interest; what Lloyd didn't like is that's how many of them were currently looking at him.

"How did you- do that? I've never seen anyone do something like that, even with exspheres!"

Lloyd merely frowned, rubbing the gem on his hand.

"Sir…" The head researcher eyed him warily as he approached. "Who…are you?"

The man twitched a bit, eying the scientist.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, his voice a little harsher than he had intended.

The head researcher frowned, scanning him a moment before muttering intently with a few of his colleagues.

"You wouldn't happen to be Lloyd _Irving_, would you? The Chosen's father?"

Lloyd didn't reply.

"You are, aren't you? Miss Sage has told us about you, spiky brown hair and two swords, exsphere on the left hand-"

"So what if I am?" Lloyd snapped, his voice unintentionally icy, his eyes narrowed on the speaker.

"I- please, don't be angry, Miss Sage told us…she told us you were a good man. It's just given your unusual traits she's collected some interesting data on you-"

Lloyd twitched.

"Data? Unusual- what? The Professor's been …researching me?" he stared, a mix between shocked and betrayed.

"Well…just observations she's made about you while living in the village-"

Lloyd turned, walking fixedly back toward the desert.

"Wh- Mr. Irving-"

"Let's go, if we don't leave now it'll be dark before we cover any ground."

He didn't exchange another word with them. Raine had been 'studying' him? How could she- though admittedly he wasn't too surprised, but…surely he wasn't that 'odd' was he? Raine wasn't a gullible rumor-junkie like everyone else in the village, she wouldn't waste time collecting 'data' on some ridiculous lie. Then again…did that mean she really didn't' consider it so ridiculous? Did that mean that there really was something 'strange' about him-? That was a dumb question. He grimaced, rubbing his face as he thought back to his battle with the worm, which he still stunk of. Well, he was strange, wasn't he? How had he done that? Exsphere or not, no human was strong enough to do that, and just before that that damn oracle stone had reacted to him- how? That didn't even make sense. It was supposed to react to the Chosen, or at the very least someone of the mana lineage. He didn't have any blood of the mana lineage, it would've made more sense if Colette had triggered it or something, what the hell would make that stone react to the 'Father of a Chosen'?

He was still semi lost in thought by the time they finally returned to Triet. The group he escorted had been talking amongst themselves for a while, and quite frankly Lloyd was a bit irritated. Were they really so rude as to discuss him so openly when he was present? They didn't even lower their voices. Going on about his newly discovered inhuman strength, the way the stone reacted to him, and even bits about how he didn't' seem to get as tired from the heat.

"Look, I can hear you," he eventually said, glaring over his shoulder. "If you're going to discuss me then at least don't do so right behind-"

He cut off, staring at the group, which was actually a good distance behind him. They stared at him and Lloyd blinked; they had sounded as if they were right behind him…

"How did he hear us?" one asked another.

By their expression and posture, it looked as if the man was whispering, but it sounded so clear to him it was as if they had said it from right next to him. A cold chill ran up Lloyd's spine and he abruptly turned back toward the city. He'd get to the inn, collect his pay and then he'd go to his family and Genis. Then they'd make preparations to head through Ossa Trail. He didn't want to spend any more time with these people. Of course, staying away from them didn't mean the strange things about him would go away, but he stubbornly refused to acknowledge that fact, telling himself it wasn't important.

Again ignoring stubbornly the nagging voice in his head that told him it was.

Lloyd was more than relieved when he opened the door to the room his family was staying in, unable to help laughing when his daughter tackled his legs without rapid shouts of 'Daddy Daddy!'.

"Hey sweetie," he said with a smile, stooping down to pick her up. "Did you miss me?"

"Uh-huh, uh-huh!" Arie nodded quickly, her pigtails bobbing comically. "I missed you! You were gone forever! Mommy and Uncle Genis played with me, but they don't play like you do!"

"She's mad at me because I couldn't give her a horsey ride for an hour straight," Genis muttered grumpily from his seat against the wall, the circles under his eyes indicating his exhaustion.

"I told you, Arie," Colette said, smiling weakly at Lloyd despite her scolding tone. "Uncle Genis isn't as strong as Daddy, you have to let him rest."

"Thanks a lot, Colette," Genis grumbled, letting out a loud yawn.

Lloyd chuckled as Colette approached him, stretching up to kiss his cheek.

"How did it go, Lloyd? I-" the blonde cut off, wrinkling her nose. "Uh-"

"Daddy smells!" Arie jolted suddenly, covering her nose.

"Oh..yeah I should probably go wash up." Lloyd smiled sheepishly. "Had a run in with a pretty big monster and- uh…"

"Ewww! Daddy got dirty with monster guts!" Arie cried, wriggling in a desperate attempt to escape back to her mother.

Lloyd flushed lightly and put her down, the girl retreating to the far side of the room with Genis, holding her nose.

"Arie, that's rude!" Colette scolded, but backed up nonetheless.

"No no, I'm sorry, I tried to clean most of it off, but I didn't want to waste water out there. I'll go clean up, I just wanted to see how you were all doing first," Lloyd said, a crooked smile on his face.

"We're fine," Colette replied, smiling weakly. "You go ahead and wash up, you can tell us what happened later."

Lloyd gave her a nod and left, quickly going to clean up, but still quite clearly heard Colette scolding Arie for being 'mean' to him. Despite it he managed a soft chuckle, smiling as he hurried to the bathing room. It didn't matter how tired he was or how she reacted, he was always happy to see anything from his little girl. She had obviously been bored out of her mind, though. The only time she was ever so blunt like that was when she was half brain-dead. He frowned a bit, thinking as he commenced cleaning himself up. It had already crossed his mind before that perhaps this trip would be too much for her, that perhaps it would have been better if he had just left to search for answers on his own. Perhaps it would've been better, but…no, he couldn't have left her. He couldn't' have left his daughter in the village that was grooming her for slaughter. If he could have his way he'd never let her get near that place again, not until she was released from her so-called 'fate'.

Besides…if need be, if she was with him, he could hide her…

He spent the remainder of his evening playing with his daughter after informing his wife and Genis that he would tell them everything that had transpired once she was asleep. Truth be told, he was unsure just how much he was willing to tell them. How would they react? And Genis…how much had Raine really 'studied' about him, and what of that was Genis aware of? If anything?

Soon, too soon, Arie was tucked into bed, sleeping soundly. Lloyd smiled, kissing her tiny forehead before turning to his wife and friend, walking over to sit with them at the table.

"So, how'd it go? You find anything? The chapel here didn't have much that we didn't know already," Genis said, frowning a bit.

"You said you got attacked by a big monster? Was everyone all right? You didn't have too much trouble, did you?" Colette asked, concern etched into her features.

"That's…actually something I should tell you about," Lloyd said slowly, frowning.

Lloyd proceeded to tell them about his encounter with the sandworm, how he had defeated it and the resulting reactions from the researchers. The pair stared at him, stunned, but before either could ask anything Lloyd had turned to Genis, bringing about what the scientists had mentioned about Raine's 'data' concerning him.

"What? Look, if she really did that, I didn't know anything about it." The half-elf shook his head. "I mean sure she seemed interested, but I mean, what hasn't she gotten suspicious about? But...you actually did that?"

"Yeah." Lloyd bit his lip. "I did, and on the way back I-…I heard them talking. I mean…they were whispering and pretty far behind me, but I heard them fine. They could've been talking loudly or something, I mean that's the only thing that'd make sense, right? But the way there were moving I could've sworn they were-…and…"

Again his companions fell silent as he told them about his inspection of the oracle stone, and what had happened when he had touched its surface. Genis stared and Colette's eyes widened, obviously shocked at the idea.

"I don't know how it happened, I mean, it's only supposed to react to the Chosen, right?" Lloyd asked the two of them. "Even then, I'm not of the mana lineage, do you know anything about that, Colette? Is there something about that I don't know?"

"I- no." Colette shook her head, staring at him. "It's only supposed to react to the Chosen."

"And you're only in the mana lineage by marriage, that doesn't make sense at all," Genis added, frowning.

Lloyd sighed, settling back in his chair as he ran over the events of the past two days in his head again. He hadn't learned anything at all, but he'd found more than his fair share of new questions. His brown eyes drifted over to his sleeping daughter, his frown furrowing his brow. How the hell was he going to save her, to protect her, if he couldn't even figure out what was going on with him?

**Mwahahah, suffer Lloydie, suffer.**

**:P Next chapter, a certain pinkette axe-wielding shows up. How? Well you'll just have to read it! MWahahah, fear me.**

**Lol, review?**


	9. Chapter 9

**And now, Presea gets into the mix ;) **

**Enjoy**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

They were met with a peculiar sight, as soon as they had gotten into the pass. Lloyd frowned, scanning the strange person, instinctively stepping in front of Colette and Arie. It was a small-statured woman, with long pink hair pulled into a braid, sitting calmly on a large rock. That was the suspicious part however, it was the fact she had an axe larger than she was on her lap and was calmly sharpening it with a grindstone. Her eyes flicked up to them, scanning them quietly, and Lloyd realized she couldn't' be that old, Genis' age at most. Before they could say anything she had lifted easily to her feet, one hand resting gently on the handle of her blade.

"Are you travelers?" she asked simply, her voice eerily calm.

Lloyd frowned, curling his fingers tighter on the hilt of one sword.

"I- y- yeah! My name's Genis- er- ahem, I'm Genis and these are my friends, we're traveling to Izoold, yeah."

The Irving couple blinked, looking at their half-elven friend. Genis' fair face was noticeably flushed, an awkward smile twisting his lips while his blue eyes scanned the young woman in front of them. Her reaction was about the same as Lloyd and Colette's, a single blink and look of confusion.

"…I-"

"Mommy, her hair is pink!"

Arie had scrambled from her mother's grip to stand by her father, gaping up with wide brown eyes at the woman before them. The stranger frowned a bit, scanning the girl a moment before her blank face softened just a bit. A weak smile came onto her lips and she set her axe down, stepping forward just a bit.

"Yes, it is," she said, kneeling down so that she was eye-level with Arie. "Do you like pink?"

"Uh-huh! It's one of my favorite colors!" she chirped, seemingly oblivious to the way Lloyd gripped onto her shoulder.

"Oh? What are your other favorites?" the woman asked, tilting her head slightly.

"Blue and green and yellow and-…I like all of them," she finished sheepishly, giggling a bit.

"I see," she said with a nod, getting back to her feet. "…Forgive me for frightening you. I'm supposed to be meeting someone here, they have yet to arrive as of yet, though."

"Meeting someone? Who?" Genis asked, the beginnings of a frown on his face.

"A pilgrimage group," she said, scanning them. "There's a young woman with them I've been hired to take care of."

"You're a mercenary?" Lloyd asked, frowning just a bit.

"I do whatever job comes by me," she said. "Usually I sell lumber and do various woodworking; I'm efficient in battle as well, so I use that to make ends meet if I must."

"That's more than understandable," Genis said quickly. "I mean my older sister does stuff like that too, she travels a lot; my name is Genis, what's yours?"

She tilted her head, scanning him.

"You already said your name was Genis," she stated flatly.

The half-elf tensed, stammering.

"I- oh- sorry- uh-"

"My name is Presea," she said, scanning them. "Why are you heading through here? It's a dangerous trip for a small family to take without any protection."

"Uh-"

"Uncle Genis is coming with us." Arie smiled. "Mommy and Daddy are here too, they said they'd keep me safe."

Presea's face softened a bit once more, nodding her head.

"I see."

There was a moment of silence. Just a moment however, before it was broken again.

"I'm Colette," Colette said. "This is my husband Lloyd, and this is our daughter, Arie."

Presea nodded, turning back and going to sit on her spot on the rock. The woman halted after a step or two, looking back and scanning the group.

"You're going to Izoold, yes? Are you sure you can get through here with a young child?"

Lloyd eyed her, frowning as he scanned her then the path ahead of them. It was certainly rocky, the footing was most likely poor as well. With him and Genis, it would still be a close fight for the two of them protecting Colette and Arie. What other choice did they have, though?

"If you are uncertain, I can assist you to the end of the pass," Presea said. "There's probably quite some time more before the group I'm waiting on arrives here. I have time enough to assist you through, if you need it."

"What do you want in return?" Lloyd asked, his eyes narrowed.

"Lloyd!" Colette scoffed, slapping his arm a bit. "She's offering her help!"

"Yeah, Lloyd, geez!" Genis scowled, crossing his arms over his chest. "Besides, even if she wants pay, it's her job! We can just ask how much she wants, we _can _say 'no' you know-"

"I want nothing in return," Presea cut him off, looking at Lloyd. "I just do not want to see a child's family endangered when I could have offered assistance."

Lloyd frowned, half at his wife's scowling and half at his own actions. Was it really so bad that he was suspicious? What if she was a Desian? He couldn't be too careful when it came to his daughter's safety, could he? Or was he really just being too harsh and suspicious? A little caution couldn't hurt of course, but was he really crossing the line here? Colette seemed angry with him…

"We'd really appreciate your help," Colette said to Presea. "But I'm afraid we don't have much money to spare, we have a long trip ahead of us-"

"That's fine."

"What if you miss the group you're supposed to meet?" Lloyd asked.

"They have to go through here, if they do arrive before I return, I'll simply meet them on the way back," she said.

"Yeah I think that's a great idea, we could use the help here, I mean, it's dangerous and all so we could use her- the help- her- that is-…yeah." Genis finished lamely.

Lloyd had the sneaking suspicion that Genis wanted her along for other reasons, but he said nothing.

"Well, Lloyd?" Colette smiled at him.

His jaw clenched. He knew that smile, that smile that told him alone quite clearly that he would do what she wanted or he'd have to answer for it later. It was a strange development that had occurred sometime after their marriage, one he didn't think he'd ever get from her. Occasionally, just like any other couple they would fight of course, get into arguments in the like. That was when he'd learned that smile and particular 'sweet' tone of voice meant clearly that she was close to being angry with him, and that he had one last chance to avert that situation.

She was pretty scary at times.

"Very well," he sighed. "We'd appreciate your help, Presea."

And that was that.

Lloyd couldn't help but keep an eye on the young woman, making sure he was close enough to her to act if she suddenly tried anything funny. However, it appeared he didn't need to keep an eye on her, seeing as everyone else was doing that already. Arie chatted away incessantly to the woman as she held Colette's hand, smiling and going on about a million different things a minute. Presea didn't seem to mind though, nodding and smiling faintly at the young girl's stories. In between Arie's onslaught of jabber, Genis would swoop in and attempt to speak with the woman.

…The results, Lloyd had to admit, were quite entertaining.

"So you live around here?"

"I live on my own, usually," she stated simply, not bothering to look away from the path.

"O- On your own? Really?"

"I prefer my privacy," she responded.

"Oh, well I mean surely you get lonely sometimes, right?"

"Not really."

The half-elf twitched slightly but managed to keep the uncomfortable smile on his face.

"That axe looks really heavy, how do you carry it?"

"It's not heavy."

A moment of silence.

"You're really pretty."

"Thank you."

Genis' eyelid twitch just a bit and Lloyd couldn't help but smirk a bit at his friends frustration. The pinkette obviously wasn't interested in him at all, the poor guy, and he was quickly running out of ways to draw her attention.

Arie was having no problem at all doing that, however. As they walked the little girl was chattering along endlessly, earning soft smiles and nods from the woman as they walked.

"So- you like kids?" Genis asked in another attempted to earn her attention.

"…I had a younger sister, once," she said, her eyes averting a bit. "She was a lot like young Arie here, always talking and laughing. She used to wear her hair just like that as well, pigtails…"

Genis tensed, fidgeting uncomfortably as the Irving couple exchanged glances. They didn't respond before Arie did however, the young girl tugging Presea's shirt.

"Why are you sad, Miss Pres-a?" she asked, frowning. "Did I do something bad? Am I being loud?"

Presea smiled gently again, patting the girl's head and making her little brown pigtails bounce a bit when the girl giggled.

"No, not at all, I like talking to you, Arie, you are very …sweet," she said.

Arie smiled again and the others relaxed just a little. Colette smiling gently and Genis attempting to engage the woman in conversation again. Lloyd couldn't help but feel wary toward her still, something about this just rubbed him the wrong way…was he just being paranoid? She seemed nice enough, just…

He'd just keep an eye on her.

They continued along the pass, fighting when necessary, with Colette holding onto their daughter as usual. He did his best to keep an eye on the pinkette but his priority in fighting was protecting his family, so he couldn't fully devote his attention to it. He didn't have to be trying to realize that Genis was putting a lot more effort into his own fighting than usual, using more powerful versions of his spells when unnecessary, being rather needlessly showy.

Then still failing to get her attention regardless.

It was obvious the mage's frustration was peaking, but he wouldn't dare show it in front of both the object of his affection and the little girl that was walking along with them. Lloyd almost felt sorry for his friend, he'd have to do something to cheer him up later.

Before they knew it they had reached the end of the trail, Presea stopping as they closed in on it.

"I shall stop here," she said. "I thank you for allowing me to come with you, it was nice being able to spend time with people, I don't often get the opportunity."

Genis looked miserable.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us-? I mean- I can stay with you maybe, if you'd like. I was going to head back through here after the next town anyway, I could keep you company-"

Presea smiled lightly, causing Genis to stammer a bit, his face heating up again.

"I thank you, but I shall be fine. I have arrangements to meet people here, as I've said…"

"Oh…well, thank you for coming with us, Presea," Colette smiled, holding Arie's hand. "We really appreciate your help with the monsters."

"Uh-huh!" Arie chirped.

The little girl rushed forward, hugging Presea's legs with a big grin.

"Bye bye! I'll miss you!"

Presea flinched just a second but kept the smile, gently patting the girl on the head.

"I'll miss you as well, now go with your parents and be good," she told her.

Arie nodded vehemently, walking back to her parents. Genis however had yet to leave the lumberjill's side, obviously trying to think of some way to spend more time with her.

"Say, Presea, who are you waiting for anyway?" he asked her.

Presea was quiet a moment, scanning the lot of them. A small frown worked into her face, mulling over her thoughts.

"..Presea-?"

"I'm supposed to be meeting the Chosen here," she said finally. "I was hired to take care of her while she was on her journey with her family."

Lloyd tensed, his eyes narrowing and his hand pulled out one sword just an inch. Colette frowned and Genis looked confused, eyes darting from Presea back to the Irving family.

"Is that so?" Lloyd asked coolly.

How did she know? Did Phaidra send her? Something wasn't-

"Oh!" Arie chirped. "I'm the Chosen!"

Colette pulled her daughter back and the pinkette's face went blank, her pale blue eyes rapidly scanning them all.

"Sweetie-" Colette began.

"You are the Irving family then?" Presea asked, her voice a flat monotone.

"And if we are?" Lloyd snapped in retaliation, pulling out a sword.

Presea said nothing, didn't even blink. Genis hesitated just a moment and then spoke up.

"Hey- Lloyd, calm down, she hasn't-"

"I see."

Then out of nowhere the flat of Presea's axe slammed into the side of Genis' head sending him sprawling across the ground and into a nearby tree, rendering him unconscious.

"Genis-!" Colette cried.

Lloyd barely brought up his swords in time to stop the giant axe from slicing down on his daughter, his legs buckling under the force. Presea's dull blue eyes stared blankly into his and Lloyd choked, struggling to keep his stance. She was strong- too strong, even with the exsphere there was no way…

"Colette, take Arie!" he snapped. "Take her and-!"

Out of the corner of his eye he saw the punch coming, Presea holding the axe down on him with one arm and bringing the other around for a stiff left hook to the side of the neck. Like his companion Lloyd slammed into the dirt, choking up a bit of blood when he hit the ground, his eyes wide in shock. Before he could even clear his head he heard Colette give out a cry as well and likewise hit the ground. He struggled up enough to look, seeing his daughter cowering before the axe-wielder, crying, horrified.

"D- Don't you dare-!" he roared at the top of his lungs, ignoring the pain as he tried to get to his feet.

Arie wailed, terrified and shaking as Presea lifted the axe above her head. Lloyd saw the woman's back and despite his aching body forced himself to his feet, charging at her with one sword. Presea turned in the blink of an eye, easily knocking the blade from his grip and then smacking him to the ground again. Lloyd grunted, struggling to get up again when he saw Presea start walking right past him.

Away from Arie.

Lloyd's eyes widened, going from the sniffling but unharmed Arie back to the woman, whose back was to them now.

"Y- You-"

"You're weak," she said flatly, her voice without any emotion. "I could have easily killed her right there. You…must be more careful."

"Wh- what the hell do you think you're doing?! I'll kill you, you lying bitch-!" he shouted, struggling to his knees.

"I was ordered to kill her," she cut him off calmly. "They'll send someone else once they find out I failed my mission. Do not be so trusting next time."

Lloyd stared, confused, infuriated and stunned as she simply left them there on the ground, heading back through the winding path and out of sight. The man gritted his teeth, managing to his feet and rushing to his daughter, pulling her into his arms.

"Are- are you okay? Arie, pumpkin-"

"I'm okay, Daddy," she sniffled, her arms gripping around his neck. "Mommy's hurt."

Lloyd panted a bit, just now realizing how out of breath he was. Still, he hurried to his wife, Arie still clinging to him as he went about stirring her. Colette was unconscious, but didn't seem to be badly injured, Genis as well.

"Daddy?" Arie's quiet voice whimpered. "Why did she do that?"

He fell silent, tightening his grip on her, holding her to his chest. He looked back to the trail, feeling his pulse pounding still in his ears. She had taken them down without trying, then just left them. Were they really so weak? Was he really not strong enough to- no, no that was obvious, he wasn't strong enough. If he was strong enough she never would've laid a hand on Colette or gotten so close to Arie, if he hadn't been so stupid she would've have gotten the chance to get at them in the first place. He wasn't strong enough, he wasn't smart enough, he had failed.

This wasn't going to happen again. He was going to get stronger, he was going to be strong enough to protect his family and his friends, he would never allow something like this to happen again.

"Daddy?"

"It's okay, pumpkin," he said quietly, rubbing her back. "Mommy and Uncle Genis are okay…we're going to wake them up and we're going to go somewhere safe."

Had Presea been a Desian? But…why would she let them go? What was she trying to accomplish? She had been 'ordered' to kill Arie..by who? The Desians had to be the only ones that'd do something like that, wouldn't they? But…

He frowned. It didn't matter, if she or someone else tried to attack them again, he would stop them. He was going to be ready next time. No matter what, he would be ready, he swore it on his life.

**Betcha weren't expecting that now were ya? :P**

**Hee hee**


	10. Chapter 10

**Meeehhh…**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

**I is a tired bunny**

**Enjoy**

"Are you sure about this?"

"Of course I'm sure, if people are after you I can't just leave you guys alone without someone to help out. What if she's with the Desians? I can't just leave you guys. Besides, we've already set off so it's a little late now."

Lloyd frowned, looking out over the deck of the ship back towards the small fishing town of Izoold. It had been difficult to find a ship that would take them to Palmacosta, but the trip had to be worth it. Not only did they have the largest collection of scholarly resources in Sylvarant, but he knew that it was also home to the Book of Regeneration. If they could get their hands on that, they were sure to find something that could help. His Angelic was still not exactly fluent, but Colette would read it just fine once they had it.

"I'm sorry," Genis' voice drew him from his thoughts. "About..earlier."

Lloyd sighed, looking back out at the water.

"It wasn't your fault, I should've been on my guard," he said flatly.

"I should've too, she took me out before I could even react." Genis frowned, visibly ashamed. "I- …I was stupid, falling for a pretty face like that. I didn't even consider she could be a threat."

"She did seem nice," Lloyd muttered, rubbing his face. "Arie liked her. I just-…why did she let us go? If she really was planning on killing us, why did she just…"

His hands curled tightly, glaring out at the horizon.

"If she had really wanted too she would've killed Arie," he growled. "She would've kill her, maybe Colette too, all of us…I couldn't even slow her down."

"…Lloyd-"

"Go check on Colette and Arie for me," he said, pulling away from the railing.

"Huh? What are you going to do?"

"Train," he responded flatly.

"…Lloyd you do know you're strong right? You are, just because one person-"

"It doesn't matter," Lloyd snapped, looking over his shoulder. "One is all it takes, if just one can get past me and get them, it doesn't matter how strong I am."

The swordsman walked away without another word, his half-elven friend letting out a small sigh as he watched him leave. He hated it when his friend got like this, he didn't seem like himself. When it came to Arie and Colette he just became totally…harsh, serious, curt. Genis really didn't like it, he was just glad that it came and went; he could hardly even try to imagine what it would be like if Lloyd always acted like that.

* * *

><p>"You wanted to see me, Lord Yggdrasill?"<p>

The spiky-haired Seraph stood before the Cruxian Leader, his expression attentive but his eyes misted, as they had been for the last couple decades. Yggdrasill seemed to care little, if he noticed at all, and simply replied.

"Our sensors show that recently, there was activity in the world-transfer system. We have evidence that someone moved from Tethe'Alla into Sylvarant without authorization."

"…And what would you require me to do, Lord Yggdrasill?"

"Investigate of course," the half-elf scowled. "It's likely that this is the work of the Renegades again, those rats keep using the transfer system without our knowledge, but this time we have proof, we know someone went to the declining world. Find them."

"With all due respect, Lord Yggdrasill," Kratos responded with a completely lack of interest. "Is Sylvarant not Yuan's responsibility?"

"Usually, yes, but he's been suspicious as of late…I don't trust him. Therefore, I want you to go to Sylvarant, find the Tethe'Allan and bring them to me."

"As you wish, Lord Yggdrasill."

"There is something else, there's word that the Chosen's family has taken her out of Iselia. That is unacceptable. Investigate their whereabouts while you are down there. I will send a 'messenger' to the church on that world and let them know the Chosen leaving safety before she is of age will not be tolerated."

That was of interest, certainly, Kratos thought. It was rare that Yggdrasill has 'decrees' from one of his lesser angels given directly to the worlds, aside from the oracle. Why would the Chosen's family leave, though? Were they attempting to run? Within a few hours Yggdrasill would have all the clergy searching for them. He almost pitied them…there was no running. He knew that more than anyone…

"Well? Kratos?"

"As you wish, my lord."

That was that, the Seraph turning and walking away. He didn't care about the task, about Yggdrasill's concerns or what sort of trouble Yuan was into now. None of it really mattered after all, not anymore. Nothing had mattered since he had lost his family.

* * *

><p>He refused to lose his family.<p>

That thought drove him forward every time he felt tired, every time he considered stopping for the day, every time he grew weary. Colette worried about him, he knew, she always said he worked too hard and maybe he did. Still, there wasn't anything else he could do at the moment, for the moment there was nothing to do but enjoy the ride. There were no texts he could read, no people he could ask, no foes to slay, no food to cook or maps to read. He had to do something then, he had to make good of his time. He felt restless if he was doing nothing, felt…wrong, antsy. More so as of late, as of late he found it hard to sleep, his entire body felt…twitchy, like his body was having many, tiny spasms. Like his muscles were trying to move on their own. They had been miserable nights; after he laid awake for a couple hours everything seemed so much louder than usual, like every little sound was booming in his head. His eyes would adjust to the dark as he stared up at the ceiling and he felt as if he could see every little crevasse and mark in the wood. That was impossible of course, likely just the result of his exhaustion on his mind. Still..something seemed…wrong, lately.

Even that night when he laid with Colette, their daughter snuggled between them, the feeling still had not ceased. He could not sleep, he didn't even feel tired. His body ached and he knew he should, and he felt exhausted from his constant thoughts, but sleep wouldn't come. Was Presea's betrayal really such a jarring event that he was still running on adrenaline? It was possible, he supposed, Genis had suggested something like that. He had felt restless ever since then, after all…it was likely stress; the best cure for it was to rest and he knew it to be so. Still, he could not.

It was a tiring night, but he pretended nothing out of the ordinary occurred when his family woke up, acted as if everything was normal when they ate breakfast. He even cracked a smile when Genis shot milk out his nose at a joke Colette had just told and Arie laughed, clapping her hands. Still, he apparently wasn't as good at hiding his anxiety as he thought. They had just gotten in sight of Palmacosta, Genis was playing 'tag' with Arie, running mockingly slow as the girl giggled and pursued him. Colette and Lloyd exchanged a smile at the sight before the woman's smile fell, looking at Lloyd.

"Lloyd," she said firmly.

Lloyd tensed even more so. That tone of voice and that look from his wife never suggested good tidings of any sort.

"Yes?"

"I told Arie that when we get to the city, we're going to go sightsee and have some fun."

Lloyd frowned a bit.

"I…well, that's good, she'll like that. Just be careful, I'll meet you at the chapel-"

"No, Lloyd, we. All of us. I told her that you were going to come with us."

"What? But I can't, Colette, there's no time for that. I need to go check the manuscripts and then ask about the book of Spiritua, then ask where the seal around here is and-"

"That's exactly why we are all going, together," Colette said, taking his hand. "You're worried and stressed, I am too, but you're going to make yourself sick, Lloyd. You didn't sleep at all last night and I know you're tired, you need to relax."

Lloyd's frown deepened.

"I can't, Colette, I'm not going to help Arie at all by-"

"By working yourself to death. Arie needs her daddy, Lloyd, she's scared too and you aren't going to make her feel better by worry yourself so much."

Colette smiled weakly, kissing his cheek and wrapping her arms around him.

"We have enough time for you to take a day to be with your family, Lloyd…"

The man hesitated a bit before returning the hug, sighing a bit in submission. He knew she was right, he wasn't going to be any help at all if he was so stressed out he couldn't think or fight. Besides…she was right, it wouldn't kill them to take one day off. Arie would be happy to spend the time with them, and there had to be a lot of fun things to do in the city.

"I hear there's a petting zoo," Colette said with a smile. "Arie will like that."

"Yeah…"

Indeed she did. Lloyd almost felt normal again, watching his daughter run around chasing a baby goat, laughing as she went. Colette had picked up a bunny and was bringing it to the little girl. Arie's eyes widened in awe and Lloyd couldn't help but chuckle as the girl took the baby bunny in her arms, giggling.

"Daddy, Daddy!" she ran to him, holding the bunny out to him. "Look, Daddy! It's a baby bunny! It's cute! It hops!"

Lloyd tilted is head in amusement, returning Arie's smile.

"Yes, Arie, he's cute isn't he?"

"Can I have one, Daddy? Can I have the bunny?"

Lloyd laughed, patting her head.

"No, pumpkin, the bunny lives here, we can't take it."

The little girl pouted, her lower lip stuck out a bit as she hugged the rabbit.

"Can I have a bunny when we go home?"

Lloyd's smile faltered just a second.

"I-…maybe, when we go home we'll ask Mommy if we can get a bunny, okay? Besides, Noishe might get jealous of a new pet."

"No he won't," Arie pouted, petting the bunny's ears. "Noishe is a big boy, Noishe won't get jel…jel…"

"Jealous."

"Yeah, that," Arie said with a nod, her pigtails bobbing. "…Though Noishe might get scared of the bunny."

Lloyd laughed, not noticing the confused little huff on her voice that suggested she was in fact, serious.

"Just go play with the bunny, Arie, have fun." Lloyd put a hand to her head, ruffling her hair.

The girl quickly forgot her issue with him and ran back to play with the animals, this time pursuing a fluffy yellow duckling. He relaxed again, sitting back on the bench watching her. Colette came to sit beside him after a few minutes, letting out a tired sigh. It was then that Lloyd noticed the bags under her eyes, her skin looked pale and sunken in as well.

"Colette? Are you all right?" He frowned.

"Oh…yes, I think I just have a bit of a cold," she said with a small smile.

Lloyd removed his glove and pressed it to her forehead, his frown deepening.

"You're sick, aren't you? We should go to the inn so you can rest," he said.

"Oh-no, I'm fine." Colette shook her head. "We just got here, Arie is having fun."

Lloyd sighed.

"You were telling me to take care of myself earlier, you need to do the same. We can come back tomorrow if she really wants to."

"Oh, Lloyd, please no." Colette frowned. "She's happy…I'll go back to the inn and rest, and you can stay here with her. That way she can still have fun."

"What? You can't go by yourself if you're feeling sick."

"Genis was saying he was tired anyway," she said. "We can both go, and you can come when Arie tires herself out. Okay?"

Lloyd sighed, knowing there was no arguing with her. He conceded with a nod and she kissed his cheek, getting to her feet. He watched her go say goodbye to Arie and give her a hug then leave with Genis, the half-elf giving a short wave of farewell. Lloyd felt a moment of concern but told himself to relax; Genis was with her, and they were safe in the city. It would do him some good to play with his daughter.

It was probably an hour or so, but it didn't feel like very long before little Arie was half asleep, clinging to him piggy-back style with her arms around his neck. Lloyd smiled weakly, carrying the little girl back to the inn they had decided to go to. It wasn't very late in the day yet, but it had been a very long day. Colette was probably resting by now, and Genis was probably using the inn's kitchen to make a meal. It would be nice to take the rest of the day off to rest a bit, especially after his sleepless night. Arie could do with a nap anyway, she was practically asleep as it was.

"Lloyd Irving?"

He stopped, turning to face the voice.

What he saw was a couple of clergymen, accompanied by what looked like the city guard. HE frowned a bit, scanning them, unsure what was going on.

"…Do I know you?" he asked.

"I was only a few years ago taught by Phaidra," said the younger of the two priests. "I was present at the Chosen's third birthday. My…she has grown, hasn't she?"

Lloyd frowned, scanning him.

"Yes, she has. We're trying to keep a low profile, if you don't mind…so please don't draw attention to us. Phaidra gave us her permission to travel.'

"Yes…we are aware, but we have gotten orders from Cruxis itself, Mr. Irving."

Lloyd tensed immediately, eying the militiamen as several more showed up.

"Is that so?" he asked, his voice low. "What orders were that, exactly?"

"The Chosen must return to Iselia, Mr. Irving, we are going to escort you back ourselves."

"For what purpose?" Lloyd snapped, moving Arie in front of him into his arm as the sleepy girl stirred. "She's safe, we aren't putting her in any danger."

"Do not make this difficult, Mr. Irving," the other priest said."Cruxis has told us that you are trying to take the Chosen and hide her, so that she will not go on the journey. You do realize this is high treason…if you cooperate and take her back willingly, we will forgive your trespass."

Lloyd scowled, one hand going to the hilt of his sword while his other arm held Arie to him securely. His eyes darted around. They were surrounding him.

"Trespass? I'm not 'kidnapping' her I'm her father! I've done nothing, I am not 'stealing' her, I'm just-"

"You are not her father, Mr. Irving," the older priest said flatly. "She is the child of the pervious Chosen and an angel, you were only involved to care for her and her mother."

Lloyd scowled, his grip tightening on his sword.

"Of course I'm her father, she looks just like me and even if she wasn't my daughter by blood, she is my daughter! I raised her, I care for her, I protect her, and I won't let you self-righteous bigots damn her without trying to find a way to save her-"

"There! He confesses it!" the priest snapped. "You heard him, he plans to keep the Chosen from regenerating our world, he seeks damnation for us all!"

"Don't you twist my words like that!" Lloyd snapped. "That is not what I'm doing-"

"Take the Chosen from him!"

The guards barely managed a step forward before Lloyd had drawn his blade, glaring at them with a notable fire in his eyes.

"I don't want to hurt anyone," he said in a low, deep voice. "But if you try to take my daughter from me, I'll do what I have to."

"See? He is an enemy of the goddess! Take the Chosen from him, kill him if you have to!"

The first two guards fell, Lloyd slicing through the gap between their helmets and armor and slitting their throats. Arie had buried her face into his shirt, crying in fright. Lloyd whirled about, attempting to fight the soldiers off with just his one sword while protecting his daughter. He did well, given the situation, but he knew he was outnumbered. The thought only made him fight harder, slashing more brutally and desperately.

"Daddy!"

It was like a scene from his nightmare, his daughter being ripped from him, her arms stretched out for him. In that one instant, where that horror gripped him he didn't see the spear coming from his other side, plunging into his chest.

He collapsed, his sword clattering on the stone. Lloyd tried to take a breath and choked out blood, his eyes wide, watching it seep from his chest and stain the stone. Arie's cries seemed muffled, distant, far away. She was calling for him, crying. They were going to take her away, they were going to take her and keep her locked up like a cow then lead her to slaughter.

"We respect your devotion to her, Mr. Irving, but you are not her father. The angel that bore her will lead her to her destiny, you are expendable."

"Daddy!"

He had failed to protect her again. Not even days later and he had lost, only this time he was not going to walk away from it. No, no this couldn't be happening- he wouldn't let it.

He pushed himself to his knees, a half-choked scream gurgling in his throat as he spat out more blood, clutching at the hole in his chest. They said something, he didn't care, the pain blocked everything out, like every single nerve he had was being torn and burnt, searing. Somehow he mustered the power to get to his feet, his legs wobbling, trying to step only to fall onto his hands and knees. He choked, trying to breathe and vaguely became aware of a blue glow coming from his exsphere. A strange, soothing, almost comfortable warmth spread through his hand from it, up his arm, filling his entire body. Lloyd gave a gasp as he felt it…he wasn't sure, but he felt it in the wound, felt it…

His mind was clearing a bit, gradually, but his thoughts began to race again. It had missed his heart, he knew, new that he might have a chance if Genis could help him with some of his magic, if he could get to a doctor. He could survive, he could survive and he had something more important to worry about. Later he could rest, later once he had his daughter back-

His breathing stopped.

He stared, thoughtless, numb as he watching the blood slip through his fingers on the tiles. That warmth from his exsphere had turned to heat, on his back, beginning to burn and sear. It was almost as bad as the pain from his chest-

"Daddy!"

Then it erupted, the heat burst from his body, searing out of his back. Lloyd let out a scream of pain, jerking up onto his knees as mana seeped from his back in a shapeless mass, slowly taking form. The priests and guards had frozen, gaping in awe as wings formed on his back. Lloyd panted, looking up and instinctively searching for his daughter. He spotted her, her wide, terrified brown eyes , being held tightly by one of the guards. The warmth surged through him and he stood, grabbing his fallen sword. The guard tried to attack him but Lloyd met it with his sword and knocked it right from his grip with a force not possible by a human. The guard barely had time to exclaim when Lloyd sliced through his neck, armor and all, and grabbed Arie into the crook of his free arm.

The other guards, the clergy, and the amassing crowd of shocked onlookers gaped, stepping back from him. Arie sniffled, curled up in a ball against him. Lloyd panted, looking around. For a moment he didn't understand, he didn't know why they were looking at him like that. The horror, he expected, shock when he struck down the city's guards with a hole in his chest, but there was something else-

"Daddy…?"

He glanced down at her, then felt something on his back give a jerk. He flinched, breathing harder despite the pain it caused to do so; then looked over his shoulder. The wings twitched, jerking a bit, as if they were trying to settle, to stabilize, but there was no mistaking what they were. Bright green and blue wings, spread like an eagle's.

He heard Colette's voice and Genis'- and another familiar one he could not place, coming closer. His grip on his sword finally gave, dropping it back onto the ground. Once more he fell onto his knees, clutching his daughter with both arms as his vision began to blur.

"He really is her father!" he heard the younger priest gasp.

Lloyd's eyes closed against his will and he passed out right there, keeping his grip on his daughter.

**Well that took a while I know, but I hope it was worth the wait…**

**Review please? **


	11. Chapter 11

**And lo! An update!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

He groaned, his eyes shut tightly to brace against the pain. It was ungodly, unbearable agony. The more he stirred into consciousness the sharper the pain became. There were voices, then suddenly the pain eased and he relaxed, breathing hard.

"Is he going to be okay?" he heard his wife.

"He'll live. Normally I would say he wouldn't fully recover, but…"

"Professor?"

"It's a day for miracles I suppose...this incident and now how he's healing. It's incredible. The wound's half healed up already, it's only been a few hours."

That voice. Raine? What was she doing here? It must be her that was tending to him now.

"I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't shown up, Professor; Genis knows some healing arts but not like you do, he would've died-"

"Assuming he's capable of dying to begin with."

"Professor..."

"I had my suspicions for quite a while, and I believe you when you say that you didn't know anything about this, Colette, but I'm not convinced that Lloyd didn't."

"Professor, Lloyd isn't like that! Even if he was an angel-"

"He _is _an angel, Colette, that's the point. He is-"

"Even so, if he knew about it he would've told me! He doesn't keep secrets, Professor, he doesn't lie, you know that!"

"He would if he thought it was important." Raine replied flatly.

"But he was a little boy! We met him when he was small, there's no way he could've-"

"It is possible he didn't know, that is true, but it's possible he did. We'll just have to ask him-"

"Colette?" Lloyd muttered, managing to open his eyes a bit. "Colette…Arie…"

He felt a pair of hands grab his tightly.

"Yes, Lloyd, I'm here! And Arie is safe, she's in the next room with Genis, and the professor is here with us."

Despite the pain and the fog in his head he managed to look at her; she seemed weirdly too close, every part of her face seemed to be more defined, sharper- in fact everything was, everything down to the tiny nubs on the bark of that potted plant in the corner- Lloyd shut his eyes, groaning, shaking his head.

"Lloyd? Are you okay? Does it hurt very bad?"

"I…where's…Arie's safe? Everyone's..okay?"

"Yes, Lloyd," Colette nodded, forcing a small smile. "Everyone is okay. We're-..we're in the cathedral, but don't worry, we're alone right now."

It took him a moment to process that. The cathedral? Why? Where-

His eyes snapped open, breathing hard and then wincing from the pain in his chest. Colette and Raine both spoke at once when he forced himself to sit up, both trying to get him to lay back down.

"Colette-" Lloyd gasped, wincing, head hung. "I- do I- on myback…am …I…"

Silence fell and he shut his eyes tight, trying to brace against the pain but refusing to lay back down. Everything felt so strange, despite the pain, everything felt…

"Lloyd…" Colette hesitated, upset.

"Yes." Raine cut in, flatly, the frown stuck on her face. "You have wings. You're an angel. So now the question we have for you is how long have you known?"

Perhaps if he hadn't been exhausted and in so much pain, he would've been more shocked, would've been more stunned or …something, anything, but at that moment with his state of complete exhaustion, he could feel none of those things, only slumped back down, laying on his side, staring into the room, panting as he felt his wings twitch. That's what they were after all, there was no denying it. Wings, he had wings, felt them sticking out his back and twitching, moving as if restless and trying to figure out what they were supposed to be doing.

"Lloyd," Raine said again, firmly. "Did you hear my question?"

"Yes," he answered quietly. "I did, and I didn't. I didn't know – I don't know, I don't know what's going on at all. They just- they took Arie from me and then they stabbed me and….and then this happened. I don't- wait- the cathedral!?"

He forced himself upright again with a grunt of pain, ignoring them as he looked around the room, going pale. The swordsman jerked to his feet and stumbled, Colette supporting him.

"Lloyd! You shouldn't move-"

"Where's Arie?! I don't want those bastards to even get close to her! Where is-!?"

"That's it! Lloyd! Lay down right this second!" Raine shouted, pushing Lloyd back to the bed by his shoulder.

Lloyd grunted, wincing as his former teacher and his wife settled him back on the bed despite his weak protests.

"I understand your concern, Lloyd, but Arie is just fine," Raine said. "Yes we're in the cathedral but you have nothing to fear from the clergy here…trust me, nothing at all. That display of yours have them too terrified to even get near her. We only brought you here because it was closer than the inn and you needed as many medical supplies as possible, which the church often has."

"Yes, it's true, Lloyd," Colette added, gripping his hand again. "The priests are all-…they all think you're a- well a holy being. Which I guess you are but- uhm-"

Lloyd shook his head, eyes shut again, his vision swimming.

"I…I don't know why I have wings," he muttered again, swaying a bit where he sat. "I don't… It just happened, I don't understand it and I didn't 'know' about it before, I don't even know what's going on now! I just-"

"Lay down, Lloyd." Raine frowned, cutting him off. "I am sorry I shouldn't have upset you and made you push yourself like this when you're still recovering."

"I want to see Arie, where is she? Where's my daughter?" Lloyd half mumbled and he laid back down on his side, his eyes half open. "I just need to know she's okay…"

"I'll go get her," Raine said as she got to her feet. "She's been worried about you at any rate."

He didn't respond beyond a small nod, staring off and wincing occasionally from the pain in his chest. Colette sat down on the chair beside his bed.

"It'll be okay, Lloyd," she said gently, running her hand through his hair. "Arie is okay, I'm okay and the Professor says you're going to be okay too. We just need to stay here for a while so you can rest and heal up, okay?"

"I'm sorry I scared you," he answered softly.

"Oh don't say stuff like that." Colette shook her head. "It's not like you planned to get hurt or-...grow wings…right?"

Lloyd blinked, looking up at her from his spot on the bed.

"Colette, you think that too? Why do you and the Professor think I knew I was going to grow wings? I know a lot of the clergy and some others think I am, all those rumors and stuff but-…but they were just rumors…"

He trailed off, thinking. They were just rumors, they had to be, but- here he was, with wings sticking out of his back. He was an angel, there was no denying that, but how? Why?

"I don't know what's going on," he whispered, pale. "I have no idea…"

Colette didn't respond, but the door creaked open just a moment later anyway.

"Daddy!"

He looked over, relief flooding his body as he saw the blur of white and brown rush to his bedside, struggling to hoist herself up onto the bed with him.

"Oh- Arie, sweetie, no," Colette plucked her up, sitting her on her lap. "You can't touch Daddy right now, he's hurt- but he'll get better, we just can't hug him right now, okay?"

"Daddy is okay, right? Daddy is going to get better? You're okay, right, Daddy?"

The wide, watery brown eyes looked up at him, imploring him to confirm what she said. Lloyd forced a smile, going to sit up again but then settled for laying there when he was reminded of the shooting pain.

"I'm going to be okay, Pumpkin," he said gently. "I just need to heal up a bit."

The pig-tailed girl sniffled, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. Lloyd watched her eyes go behind him, then at him, the girl fidgeting a bit on her mother's lap.

"Daddy? Why are you an angel?"

Lloyd's smile faltered, aware again of the appendages extending from his back. They felt twitchy, sore at the base where the met his skin, but they ached too, all the way up to the tips he could feel them aching as one would feel their muscles aching after exercise.

"I…I don't know, Pumpkin."

"I was scared," she whimpered, lip quivering and big brown eyes filling up with tears. "They hurt you and- and they were taking me away and then you got all glowy and- and-"

She cut off, hiccupping, clinging to her mother.

"Oh sweetie, it's okay, shhh…it's okay now, they're gone and Daddy's okay, okay? Everything is okay, no one is going to take you away from us." Colette cooed her, rubbing the girl's back in an attempt to comfort her.

"Pumpkin…" Lloyd spoke up.

He reached for her, wincing a bit but stubbornly putting his hand on her head, forcing a smile when she met his eyes.

"I promised I'd protect you didn't I? Doesn't Daddy always keep his promises?"

She sniffed, nodding once.

"Uh- uh-huh," she mumbled.

"What did Daddy say about lying?"

"Uhm…Dwarven Vow number…two? Lying is the first step toward ..theif-ry."

Colette and Lloyd smiled weakly at their daughter's attempt to repeat the saying, Lloyd patting her head a bit.

"It's number eleven," he corrected gently. "But yes. Only bad people lie, I told you I'm going to protect you, so I'm not going to go anywhere. So you don't have to be scared, okay? You never have to be scared, Mommy and Daddy are here."

"Okay," she sniffled, wiping her eyes on her sleeve.

"And we're going to leave soon," he said. "In a little bit we'll go and get far away from this scary place-"

"Like hell you are."

They looked toward the door where Raine stood, hands on her hips and a familiar, scolding glare on her face.

"Professor-" Colette began, startled.

"You aren't going anywhere, Lloyd Irving, do you hear me? You're not leaving that bed for at least a month and so help me if you even think of getting up before that I'll-"

"You just want him to stay put so you can study him…" Genis muttered from behind her in the doorway.

His elder sister turned and smacked him upside the head before quickly turning back to the Irvings.

"You are not going anywhere, Lloyd. That's final. I'm sure Colette will agree. How far do you ever think you could get, wounded and with- _those _growing out of your back?" she gestured to the blue-green appendages. "You've certainly lost any hope of going around unnoticed."

"I'm not keeping my family here," Lloyd snapped, attempting to push himself up a bit. "I don't want them anywhere near those so-called priests. I'm getting Arie as far away from this place as possible and we're going to continue our search."

"Lloyd did you even hear a word I said? Just- you need to look at yourself! Don't you realize the severity of this situation? Before you do anything, you need to carefully go over your options."

"I agree with Raine, Lloyd." Genis frowned. "I know you want to leave and I don't blame you, but…"

Lloyd's eyes narrowed, flashing a bit and he gritted his teeth, forcing himself to sit upright. The others voiced their protest with concern and anger, Colette grabbing her husband's shoulder to attempt to coerce him back down. The stubborn swordsman sat up, panting a bit but did so nonetheless, his wings twitching behind him. He looked down at his torso, which was bare except for the bandages crisscrossing his chest, many of them, and judging by the look of them they were relatively new ones but they were still stained red over the wound.

"Lloyd Irving lay back down right this second!" Raine scowled, heading toward him.

He ignored her, looking over his shoulder at the wings, breathing hard. Until then he hadn't really been able to get a very good look at them. Really though, they weren't that much different than what he had managed to see before. The glow, the color, the eagle-style shape…but the feathers were…so strange. They looked like bird feathers, but…not. The feathers were bird-like, made of fibers, but the fibers seemed almost…plant-like? Veiny? Those still didn't seem to be right, they made them sound gross or eerie, perhaps they were a bit eerie but they weren't….creepy, really. He attempted to move them, trying to curl them to his back like a bird, succeeding only in getting a half-fold and then a jerk back into their open position.

"Lloyd."

He turned toward the voice, half-going to snap at Raine when he realized his wife had spoken. Colette's eyes were locked with his, a small frown on her face and she slipped her free hand onto his.

"Lloyd, lay down," she said, gentle but firm. "You're hurt. We can leave later, just rest, we can't go anywhere until you heal."

The man stared at her a moment, his wings twitching with his breath. He wanted to debate it with her, but just sitting up had taken so much energy out of him he felt like doing exactly what she said. So he surrendered, laying back down on his side with her help and letting out a sigh of defeat, eyes closing.

* * *

><p>"What do you mean he's gone?!"<p>

"Sis, calm down, he wouldn't have left Colette and Arie here and he's not going to get far like that-"

"I know that! But he shouldn't be up! I swear to Martel, one of these days I'm going to belt that idiot so hard up the head-!"

Arie began to cry, Colette quickly hushing her daughter, picking her up and cooing to her.

"Don't cry, sweetie, don't cry. Auntie Raine's just upset, Daddy's okay, he probably just got up to use the bathroom. He was in there a minute ago, shhh...it's okay."

"I knew we shouldn't have left him alone in there," Raine grumbled darkly, rubbing her face.

"You did say he needed peace and quiet, Raine," Genis said. "Look it's not like he's missing, Colette just said she looked and he wasn't there. Where would he have gone anyway? We're in the cathedral and thanks to this whole mess no one's allowed in here but the clergy anyway. Oh and the Governor-General-"

Raine's eyes widened, her jaw clamped shut. The woman turned on hell and all but flew down the corridor, toward the staircase leading to the lower level, the chapel.

"Wh- Raine?! Hold up!" Genis followed after.

Colette hesitated just a moment but followed after the Sage siblings, carrying her little girl down with her, still reluctant to let her out of her grip while in the cathedral. She quickly caught up with the Sages, who were heading toward the altar where the winged swordsman was currently in a very…heated conversation with the Pastor and a man Colette assumed was the Governor-General, Neil.

"Please your holiness, calm yourself-"

"I told you, stop calling me that! You tried to have me killed a few hours ago, don't you dare come back with that kissass bullshit!"

"Mr. Irving, please," Neil spoke up, looking as pale as the Pastor did. "I can't apologize enough for what happened, misunderstanding or not it's not an excuse, I know, but-"

"Misunderstanding! Let me make this clear, 'misunderstanding' or not if _anyone _ever tries to take my daughter away from me again, I swear I'll-!"

The two cowering men were saved by perhaps the most unusual thing they had ever seen, namely, a fuming angelic being whacked upside the head by a silver-haired school-teacher.

"Ugh-!" Lloyd winced, putting a hand to the back of his head and looking over his shoulder.

"Yes, Lloyd, by all means keep making a fool of yourself," the woman snapped icily, her eyes narrowed. "You're making things worse, and what are you even doing out of bed?"

"Er…Mr. Irving here- you see I was talking with the Pastor about this…situation, and he came down and…asked for the Book of Spiritua."

"We can't hand it over just like that!" the Pastor said. "Not after the commands we were given by Cruxis. We were told to take the Chosen back to Iselia by force if needed, and angel or not he still is defying that order, we- we don't know what to do! Our hands are tied!"

"What exactly was this order about the Chosen?" Raine asked, stepping between them and Lloyd.

"Well…there was an oracle in Iselia which decreed that the Chosen was to return to Iselia."

"Did you speak to anyone that was at the temple itself? To anyone that witnessed it?"

"Well…no, but we received word-"

"Then has it occurred to you, perhaps, that that message was a lie? A trick by the Desians perhaps, to return the Chosen into their hands?" Raine said smoothly.

Lloyd frowned but stayed silent, eying his teacher. He could almost see the gears clicking away behind those cool, calculating eyes. That was just like her, smooth and manipulative. She had already devised a way around the problem and even fabricated a way to get what they wanted.

"I- well….it's possible, but why would it be?"

"Think about it," Raine said, crossing her arms and looking at Lloyd. "Look, right in front of you. There is an angel right in front of you, and angels serve Martel, yes?"

"Well…yes, but-"

"Angels serve Martel and one is right in front of you, and he has made a command of you. Would two angels contradict each other?"

"…No."

"Exactly. So if they cannot contradict each other, and this angel is telling you he is taking the Chosen and the book, but some human tells you an angel supposedly said to return her, that means one of them is lying. Now ask yourself…is it the angel? The one, by the way, you so foolishly attacked and injured?" Raine's eyes narrowed, locked on the Pastor's. "You've already stained your soul with everlasting sin by such a horrid act against one of Martel's own angels, do you really think it wise now, to go against his wishes?"

"I- well-" the Pastor shook his head. "Who are you to say these things?! You're no angel- you're not even human! You're an elf! What do you know of these matters? Even if what you say is true, you have no right to be speaking for a holy one like this, you can't even wrap your pagan, primitive elven brain around it-!"

Lloyd's eyes narrowed, stepping forward with one solid step. On some reflex to his anger, his wings fanned out behind him, catching the light from the candles at the altar and accentuating his own.

"She's my friend and my former mentor," Lloyd said flatly, his voice low. "And I've had enough of you treating the people I care about like this. You will not insult my friends or threaten my family again. Understand? Now shut your mouth, give me the book, and let us leave."

The pastor went white in the face, Neil hesitating a bit.

Lloyd's eyes narrowed.

"_Now._" He hissed.

"V- very well, right away!" The priest blurted quickly, bowing his head and then rushing away.

Neil frowned, clearing his throat.

"It is for the best you all leave as soon as possible anyway," he said, frowning. "We've tried to keep things quiet but a lot of people witnessed, I'm sure word will spread about you soon. It's only a matter of time before the Desians come looking for you and the Chosen here. Please, as soon as you're able, flee this city. I'll have some supplies readied for you."

Lloyd let out a low sigh, his shoulders and wings sagging, the bags under his eyes suddenly evident.

"Thank you…and I am sorry about the trouble we've caused your city."

"No, it was our doing." Neil shook his head. "I-…I hope you don't…mind my saying, but you don't seem that much different from us humans…so I will pray for your safety."

Lloyd cracked a weak half-smile.

"Thank you…and I'm not-…nevermind, thank you."

Neil left quickly with a nod and Lloyd sighed, stiffly sitting himself on one of the pews to rest his aching body. He looked over at Colette and Arie, who were approaching him. Not much different than humans? He was a human-…at least he thought he was, he certainly felt like it right now. He didn't know what he was anymore. Whatever he was though, angel or not, he knew for sure he certainly was no holy being. But he was going to find out. How to save his daughter and the world, what he was, why he was here…he was going to find out. One way or another.

**First time I've managed to update something other than Cenon in a while. Yay. I should be updating Daddy Dearest and Breath of Fire soon too…and finishing Ensnared…after mid-terms. Lol.**

**Review? **


	12. Chapter 12

**Well I finally have a moment to write for this so…**

**Disclaimer: Own nothing do I**

Lloyd scowled, his frustration painfully obvious as he glared daggers at the glowing appendages on his back.

"It's not working."

Colette sighed, frowning deeply as she scanned her husband's wings. They had been trying to figure out how he could 'dismiss' them, as Colette had been taught angels were able to do, apparently it was supposed to be intuitive but…it was not the case for Lloyd, at least.

"Well sneaking around isn't going to really be possible if you got those things shimmering everywhere," Genis said with a frown. "So either you got to get it or we stay here."

"We're not staying here," Lloyd snapped immediately. "I'll get it this time."

"Maybe you're just thinking too hard," Raine suggested. "Try taking a deep breath, calm yourself and just…do whatever feels right."

"Heh," Lloyd smirked weakly. "Not the kind of thing you'd say unless you thought it would work."

"I suppose not, but magic relies on your emotional state as well as your focus. Sometimes you need intense focus and sometimes you need to go with instinct, and we all know that's always been your forte."

Lloyd rolled his eyes just a bit, but closed his eyes and tried to calm himself with deep breathes. He wasn't sure what to do, he had tried everything he could think of already. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, in and out, in and out- wait. …Yes, yes that was it! In, he inhaled, out, he exhaled, and then in again….

His eyes snapped open as he felt the energy that made up his wings simply slide back into his back, leaving no trace that they had been present at all.

"Oh! Lloyd, you did it!" Colette chirped happily.

Lloyd's shoulders slumped in relief, smiling back at her.

"I told you I'd get it."

They then went about preparing for their journey to the next House of Salvation.

* * *

><p>"You had one job, Combatrir."<p>

The pink haired woman stood silently in front of the desk, her expression blank and her arms behind her back. Green eyes were narrowed on her in annoyance, their owner visibly very angry with her as he dropped the report onto his desk with an audible slap.

"You said you could handle this."

"I overestimated my abilities, sir," she reported flatly.

"I don't believe you're telling me the truth," he replied even more curtly. "You claim they 'got away'? How the hell could they 'get away'? They didn't have any real fighters with them, just the one mage that you said you took out first, and easily."

"The father was a swordsman-"

"So what? A self-trained swordsman from a hick town, with no exsphere, no experience, how the hell could he have done anything? He's just some nobody, the only thing he ever did that was notable was get a bunch of rumors spread about him, 'angelic', which we both know is a bunch of bullshit. I had the kid picked out because he was a damn no one and we needed more time, if he was anything the least bit of a threat, he wouldn't have been involved to begin with!"

Yuan stood, slamming his hands on the desk and glaring at the woman.

"Stop bullshitting me, you let them go, didn't you? You couldn't do it, you couldn't handle it."

Presea said nothing, meeting his eyes but not betraying anything to him.

"I knew you were too soft for this," the half-elf growled. "I shouldn't have sent anyone with any ties to young girls. I'll have to find someone else to take care of this, now…"

The door to the office opened with a mechanical swish, his second in command, Botta entering the room.

"I'm in the middle of something, Botta-"

"Yes, sir, but we have a report that is rather urgent."

Presea backed to the side, eying the half-elf as he approached his commander with another report. Yuan snatched it, obviously still not in any mood to deal with interruptions, then quickly scanned over the paper.

He froze.

"Send a squad. Kill the girl and if he reveals this, take him alive."

* * *

><p>Arie was bored, she was a lot like her father in that way. Colette cooed her, patting her head and telling her they would get there soon, but the little girl was obviously disheartened. Lloyd smiled weakly at them both, then looked ahead with a frown. His eyes felt weird, they kept…he didn't know how to explain it. He'd look ahead, and things would seem normal, then suddenly it was as if he could see everything magnified, way up close, like looking through a scope- He shook his head, frowning. The sensation kept coming and going, it was very distracting.<p>

"Daddy? Daddy can I see your wings again?"

He twitched a bit but forced a smile for his daughter, shaking his head.

"No, pumpkin. Daddy isn't going to use the wings, we told you it's gonna be a secret, okay?"

"But they're pretty," Arie pouted, disappointed.

"Thank you, sweetie, but we're going to keep it a secret, remember?"

"But I wanna seeeee….." The girl whined.

"Now, Arie, don't whine like that," Colette scolded lightly.

Lloyd went to say something then cut off, his eyes bugging out again, but this time they caught something, something he would not have noticed before. In a split second he snatched Arie up and rolled to the side as an arrow blew past where the girl's head just was. The girl and her mother let out a shriek, the Sages and Lloyd drawing their weapons as Lloyd quickly handed his daughter to Colette, the woman holding her tight, one hand drawing a charkam.

From the look of it, they were Desians, but something bugged Lloyd in the back of his head about their appearance, something he couldn't put his finger on. He didn't have time to question it, though, they had tried to kill his daughter and that was the only thing that he needed to know. He rushed them, swords flashing along with a fire in his eyes, felling two and then swerving and stabbing another through the gut while the other blade blocked an attack from behind. Everything seemed slower somehow, or…maybe…could it possible he was just faster? He felt faster, he felt a lot of things, actually, he caught every little detail, heard every breath and saw every bead of sweat on their faces.

Something was stirring in him, something different from his usual drive to protect his family, even different than his pride, or adrenaline… No, something about this made him feel…empowered, strong, invincible, something more than- …more than human.

And it felt good.

His fighting became an art, a dance, as he weaved through the attackers, blocking, exploiting their mistakes, felling them to the ground in twos and threes. He was only vaguely aware of his elven friends, moreso of his wife and child, but had almost no awareness of whatever wounds he sustained.

Then suddenly, abruptly, it was all over. The others were panting, out of breath, Arie silent as she clung to her mother. Lloyd frowned, looking at the blood on his blades before whipping some of it off with a flick of his wrists, then sheathing them. That had felt…different, it had all felt different. Then again, he supposed he was different now…

"Are you all okay?" he asked, walking back to his wife, looking at the Sages.

"Yes, nothing I can't handle," Raine nodded, casting her healing magic on her brother, who sat, winded on the ground.

Lloyd took his daughter from Colette, cradling her gently, trying to calm her down.

"It's okay sweetie…the bad men are gone."

"We should get moving, let's put as much distance between here and us before nightfall."

"Yeah…" Lloyd looked off at the lowering sun. "Let's hurry."

They had gone quite a ways before setting up camp, Genis cooking their meal while the others did whatever chores they could think to do. Lloyd sat, staring off, contemplating all that had happened, wondering, he had so many questions. Why was he an angel? How could he have been, all this time, without knowing? Had the rumors been true? Had he been an angel sent to sire a Chosen? His face darkened. Well if that was the case he was going to prove he was not the person they wanted for that job, he didn't give a damn what he was, they weren't sacrificing her.

"Daddy?"

He shook his head, looking down at her, surprised how she managed to sneak up on him.

"Yes, Pumpkin?" he forced a smile.

"Will you play with me?" she asked, her big brown eyes wide with her plea.

"…I- not right now, sweetie," he ruffled her hair a bit. "Daddy- Daddy needs to think for a while-"

"Daddy never plays anymore," he voice came, soft as a whisper, her face crestfallen.

He flinched, staring at her.

"Wh- Arie I play with you, we saw the baby animals a couple days ago, remember?"

She shook her head, her eyes welling up with tears.

"Nu-uh, you watched, you didn't play with me." She tugged his arm again, sniffling. "Why don't you play with me anymore, Daddy? Are you mad?"

His heart felt like it fell to pieces when she said that, the little girl holding back tears. Had he really been neglecting her that much? Sure he had been- busy, so much had been happening, but surely he hadn't…

"No, no sweetie I'm not mad," he picked her up and sat her on his lap. "Daddy's not mad, he's just- we'll play now, okay? What do you want to play?"

Her little face lit up.

Raine glanced over, quiet, fascinated by what she saw. Lloyd had always been a strange one, stranger now, but even despite his angelic nature now apparent, it was his personality that always awed her more. He had been nothing but serious and solemn since his wings revealed, and then after just a few pleas from his daughter…

Well, he wasn't acting like any kind of angelic harbinger, that was for sure.

"Faster, faster!"

Lloyd laughed, crawling about on all fours as his daughter sat on his back, giggling wildly.

"Oh no! We're going to lose the race! Faster!" Arie shouted.

"Uhp, I just tripped on a leaf!" Lloyd exclaimed, 'stumbling' and then stopping. "Now I have to lay here."

"Daddy! You can't trip on leafs!"

"No, really I did, ow, ow…."

They played for quite a bit before the little girl fell asleep and her father tucked her into her bedroll, kissing her forehead.

"Are you all right? You shouldn't have been moving around like that, with your wound-" Genis started.

"Hey , if I could fight then I could play," Lloyd said with a little grin. "I'm fine."

"Hm, we'll see about that. Come here and let me change your bandages," Raine stated.

Lloyd sighed but complied, sitting on a log as Raine tended his wound.

"Remarkable," she muttered to herself. "The way you heal is just…incredible."

"Well I've always been a fast healer-"

"Not like this you haven't."

Lloyd's joking smile fell, frowning as his old teacher examined his wound. It wasn't even bleeding anymore, not even a little, there was no hole, no scar, there was raw, pink flesh already growing over it, as if it hadn't been a near fatal wound…

The glint in his teacher's eye made him sigh.

"Before you even start, Professor, I'm going to tell you. I don't know anything. Really, I don't. I don't know what I- I mean I guess I know what I am, but I know as much as you do. I know I've got wings and that's about it. I'm an angel, I'll accept that, but I don't know anymore than the rest of you do."

Raine sighed, shaking her head as she finished the bandaging.

"I know, I believe you."

"Believe me I want to know what's going on just as badly as you do," he muttered.

"Well…let's get some rest, we should reach the House of Salvation tomorrow."

Indeed they did, and surprisingly, things were relatively uneventful for a few days. Agonizingly so, in fact, if Lloyd was being honest. So far they had fled quick enough that word had not reached the House about the events that happened in Palmacosta, and Lloyd was determined to leave the second they did catch wind of anything. So in the short amount of time available he poured over all the texts with the others, while they took turns taking care of Arie. On the bright side, no one had dared to mention anything about his apparent angelic transformation while they were there, for fear of being overheard. It was a relief, in a way, but steadily grew all the more frustrating.

There was nothing, nothing about the seals, nothing about how to save his daughter, nothing about what he was, or how he was what he was. It felt like suffocating, stagnating, running in place with no change or progress despite the urgent, obvious questions that needed answering. If there was one thing that drove him absolutely crazy, it was the feeling that nothing was being accomplished.

"Lloyd…" Raine spoke up after a few hours of searching. "Perhaps we should move on."

"There's still more, I can't go until I'm absolutely sure."

Raine sighed, biting her lip. She eyed her brother, who nodded to her, just as concerned looking.

"We were thinking, Lloyd," Genis spoke up. "There's apparently some old man in Hakonesia Peak that has a lot of old texts, church related things. But there's also…well…"

"We thought it might be best if we went ahead," Raine cut in. "They get more people stopping at the peak, it's possible they could get word of what happened in Palmacosta before this place does. If so, there could be some Desian activity."

Lloyd frowned, looking up at them, eying them.

"So what are you saying? Why would you go ahead?"

"Genis and I will go ahead to scout things out, then we'll come back to meet you at a checkpoint on the path. If things look suspicious, we'll find another route."

"You don't have to do that-"

"We don't have to be with you to begin with," Genis smirked weakly. "We don't want to leave you guys right now but it's better that we're careful, for Arie's sake. It would be just as bad to send only one of us."

Lloyd frowned, thinking it over.

"All right…be careful."

* * *

><p>He had approached the campfire cautiously, but quickly, his senses straining for anything that might be a threat. This was foolishness; an angel appearing in Palmacosta? An angel would not stray to the declining world in such a manner, not at all, and all the idiocy of claiming the 'angel' had been the father of the current Chosen… Why did they send him out for such a foolish, pointless mission? There would be no challenge to it, no threat, he would simply show his wings and the Chosen's parents would likely bow and scrape and hurry back to Iselia, convinced he was really some heavenly power.<p>

…How very shameful had things become, he thought as he closed his eyes. What did it matter, though? As soon as the Chosen grew and completed her journey the worlds would be one again, then perhaps finally at least one thing Anna wanted would become reality…

His angelic hearing alerted him to the child, the young Chosen playing nearby, running about the edges of the camp chasing- a firefly, apparently, judging by what she was saying. Still so young…just a child…

The mother was scolding her lightly from near the fire, where judging by the smell she was preparing their meal. She told her daughter to slow down, said she would trip and hurt herself. The snuffing of some canine- a large dog probably- was heard in the background, the animal was likely asleep.

The only thing missing was the father….he didn't hear him nearby. Where was he? He had heard they were all traveling together, the family, so where was he? He was a fighter from the reports, no doubt he would perceive his appearance to the camp in the middle of the night as a threat. But he could detect no trace of him as of yet, and no human nearby could conceal his appearance from his angelic senses. He'd keep alert then, he would show up…

He stepped from the grove, coming into view of the camp as the shadows hazed his form, spotting the young Chosen running around. She stopped suddenly, looking at him, and Kratos braced himself for her cry of alarm, for her to race to her mother.

He did not expect her to run towards him, arms outstretched.

"Daddy!" she exclaimed.

He nearly staggered.

What? 'Daddy'- obviously she couldn't see him well, he frowned, stepping further into the light of the camp. The mother had stood abruptly, her eyes widening as she spotted him. She certainly looked like Martel…why then was it her daughter that had been selected? She appeared to look less like Martel and more like-

He froze, staring down at the young girl as she skid to a stop of her own, staring up at him in turn.

Anna.

Oh gods. His throat tightened, finding his own eyes widening in shock. The wide brown eyes, the little wave of brunette hair, the nose- what- what was this? How could that be-?

"Arie!" the mother exclaimed, rushing forward and scooping up her child, stepping backwards, her eyes locked on him. "W-…Who are you?"

Kratos glanced at her, scanning her briefly before staring at the child in her arms once more. Yes...she...did bear resemblance to her mother, but there was so much like Anna in the girl, and something else, a hint of something he couldn't quite-

He shook his head, frowning, meeting the mother's eyes.

"You're the Chosen's mother then, I presume," he said flatly, though he knew he was right.

She took another step back. He frowned and went to speak when he noticed the large animal they had with them. It was a large canine yes, but not a dog as he had expected.

In fact, it was Noishe.

He froze again, his eyes widening, staring at the slumbering protozoan. Noishe? Why was he here? Why was he with them-?

He heard the shing of a sword being unsheathed.

Kratos cursed himself for having let his guard down, whirling around and bringing up his blade to meet the blade of his attacker. The father then, had to be-

Russet eyes met russet eyes as blade met blade and the air in both swordsmen's lungs quickly vacated. Their eyes widened in unison as they circled and jumped back from the other, the father between him and his family, and Kratos staring at the three of them in utter astonishment.

"Lloyd!" the woman exclaimed.

His heart stopped beating.

Lloyd? Lloyd- no not – HIS Lloyd?

He scanned the man quickly, taking in his face, his stature, the exsphere on his left hand- the Angelus Project. It was the Angelus Project; Noishe was stirring across from them in camp. Noishe, the Angelus Project, the name, the age, the appearance of the man's daughter-

If it hadn't been for his thousands of years of maintaining appearances and steeling himself, he was sure his knees would've given out.

It was Lloyd. It was his son. His son, his son's wife, and the Chosen- their daughter- his granddaughter.

Oh no….

**Annnddd..the fun begins**

**Reviews?**


	13. Chapter 13

**Geez I'm tired and I ache and I feel bad…blaaaah**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

Lloyd gripped his swords tightly, his jaw set stiffly as he kept his eyes locked on the…intruder. The intruder that happened to look as if he could be his brother, that was. …What the hell? What was going on here? Who was this guy? He swallowed.

"Who are you?" he snapped, his eyes narrowed in a glare. "What do you want?"

The man said nothing, his jaw stiff as his was but slowly lowering his blade. Lloyd didn't, but did allow himself to ease up just a little.

"I do not want to fight," he said quietly, though his eyes didn't leave his. "I mean you no harm."

"You can understand why I have a hard time believing that, right?" Lloyd scowled a bit, but lowered his blades just an inch.

Neither of them got another word in, seeing as just then Noishe decided to wake up. The protozoan yawned and then let out a bark, rushing over in a blur of green and white and tackling the Seraph. Lloyd flinched, unsure what had just happened before he saw his 'pet' licking the stranger rapidly, tail wagging in a blur of white and green.

"Noishe!" he snapped. "Off! Now!"

Noishe whimpered, ears drooping as he scotched off the man, though his tail continued to wag gently.

"You- You know him?" Lloyd stared, finally lowering his weapons. "How do you know Noishe?"

The man got to his feet, wiping the slime off his face with distaste as he frowned, quietly straightening his clothes. They all stood in silence when the man looked up at him and the met eyes again, a tense quiet coiling around them like a snake.

A quiet that Arie seemed immune to.

"Daddy? Why does he look like you?" She asked, frowning.

"I…"

"How old are you?" Kratos asked. "Twenty-seven?"

"How do you know-? That's it. Who are you?" Lloyd demanded, raising one sword. "How do you know Noishe and why do we look alike?"

"…My name is Kratos Aurion," he answered, frowning. "Noishe and I were companions for a long time."

Lloyd snorted, glaring, obviously not believing him.

"Noishe has been with me all my life. You're only about my age, that can't-"

"I appear to be your age. I am not." He stated flatly.

Lloyd frowned, processing that bit of information. How was that possible? Was he an elf? A half-elf?

"What are you? You're not human then."

"That is correct. I am not." Kratos responded flatly, his face expressionless.

"So what are you?"

"I-"

Kratos cut off, dashing from his spot with such speed Lloyd momentarily lost track of him. The spiky-haired man was quite suddenly on the other side of them, his sword knocking an arrow from its path. Colette yelped, turning and clutching Arie to her. Lloyd went to pull his wife and child behind him but instead blocked the flashing blade of yet another assailant. Another Desian squad, or so he thought.

Kratos' eyes narrowed, shooting a blast of magic into the trees at the Renegade sniper and then quickly twisting to cut down another troop that was attempting to flank them. Lloyd was defending from the opposite side, good. He cursed himself, he hadn't realized they were being surrounded. The shock of seeing his son- no, there was no excuse. Right now he needed to focus his attention on the Renegades-

"Stop! Kratos is with them!" he heard a voice shout. "Retreat for now!"

The soldiers attempted to flee back into the trees. They did so, nearly. Except for the one that Kratos charged at, slicing out the back of their knee so they hit the forest floor.

As Lloyd quickly secured the area and tended to his family, Kratos dragged the Renegade over to a tree, slamming them against it by their throat.

"Was your goal to assassinate the Chosen? Speak up."

The soldier struggled, jaw clenched and obviously refusing to answer.

"If you're not going to talk there's no reason for me to keep you alive."

"You wouldn't let me live anyway. We all know who you are, Kratos the Seraph, we know what you're like. Go to hell you Cruxian bastard."

"Seraph…?" Colette whispered.

Kratos frowned and in a flash of steel the body fell with a thud onto the forest ground.

"I suggest we relocate. Hakenoesia Peak is close enough we can reach it by morning," he said calmly, sheathing his blade.

"We-? Seraph? What do they mean Seraph?" Lloyd glared, getting between the strange man andhis family again. "Like a Cruxis Seraph?"

"…Indeed." Kratos nodded, turning and meeting his gaze. "It is as he said. I am one of Cruxis' four Seraphim."

"You're an angel?"

The ancient man regarded his son a moment, wondering how he should respond to this. Would it get them to trust him? To trust him enough so that they would come with him to safety? So he could try and work out some plan with them, so that they could escape….

"Well?" Lloyd demanded.

Kratos sighed, releasing his wings. He heard the child gasp as the sparkling blue appendages slipped free from his back, fluttering gently, mindlessly in the night air.

"Daddy!" Arie gasped. "Daddy he's got wings like you-!"

"Arie, hush!" Colette quickly quieted her daughter, her face pale as she stared at the Seraph.

"You have them as well?" Kratos asked Lloyd, frowning a bit. "Did-?"

"What's your relation to me?" Lloyd snapped, his grip on his sword tightening.

"Pardon?" Kratos blinked, surprised by his directness in the subject.

"I'm not stupid," Lloyd growled, his eyes narrowed. "I may not understand everything that's going on, but I pay attention. You're obviously an angel, Noishe knows you so you're older than you look, you look like me, and I'm guessing you already know that I have wings and you're playing dumb about it. Well, I want answers, and I know where this is going. So you best tell me right now or-"

Kratos dismissed his wings, their glow and light vanishing from the dark clearing.

"There isn't time for this. We should go-"

"'We' are not going anywhere with you unless you answer me!" Lloyd shouted, taking an aggressive step forward.

Kratos scanned him, quiet, wondering if there was an alternative, a better option, wondering what implications there could be if he told him now. His eyes flitted over Lloyd, to Colette, then down at Arie. Arie was staring at him, her big brown eyes wide, the gentle wave of chocolate hair framing her face. Like Anna… He sighed.

"I'm your father."

He wasn't sure what reaction he expected. Denial? Anger? Outburst? Probably, though the reaction he got was not exactly what he imagined. Lloyd did sheathe his swords, he did turn his back on him, but…

"We're going to pack up and head to the peak," he said, not looking at the Seraph. "You're going to come with us and help me protect them. When we get there you're going to answer my questions. All of them."

Kratos frowned, then nodded.

"Very well."

* * *

><p>"Babe, are you sure you should be moving so much-?"<p>

"I'm perfectly capable of making myself a snack, Zelos, calm down."

The red-haired man frowned, anxiously eying the very, very pregnant Mizuhan woman humming to herself as she chopped some vegetables. Eight months now, they were so close, so close to their darling little baby girl. They'd already picked a name- two names, that was. Her real name, as tradition for Mizuho, and the name she would go by. Zoey, Zoey Wilder. He grinned to himself, slipping up behind Sheena and wrapping his arms around her stomach.

"Zelos-" she flushed a bit.

"My beautiful babe is gonna give me a beautiful baby," he grinned, kissing her neck and cheek. "I'm the luckiest guy in the whole world."

"Oh stop it," Sheena said, rolling her eyes with a slight smile. "Don't you have to go be clingy somewhere else?"

"But Sheeenaaa…."

She giggled a bit, going to say something when the butler, Sebastian, entered the room.

"Sir."

Zelos rolled his eyes, looking over at the old man.

"What is it, man? I'm taking care of my babies."

"There is someone here to see you, Sir…from the Renegades."

Sheena and Zelos both tensed, the woman looking concerned at her husband, who was now frowning.

"What the hell do they want?"

"They said it's a private matter of grave urgency, Sir."

"Zelos…" Sheena began, looking at him.

"It's okay, babe, I'll take care of it. Stay here, all right?"

The man left his wife and followed the butler into one of the lounge rooms, where, to Zelos' surprise, a blue-haired half-elf awaited him.

"You came yourself?" Zelos' eyes hardened, frowning. "What's going on? I thought I was done."

"I think this particular issue will be relevant to you, personally," Yuan said, seated comfortably in one of the posh chairs. "Seeing as it will affect your unborn child, if it's not dealt with."

The Chosen's hand went to the hilt of his sword.

"Are you threatening me, Yuan?" he snarled, pulling the blade out just a bit.

"I'm not, not at all. I'm here to give you a chance to stop something that could make your child's life…difficult. In this case, it's to our benefit as well as yours if you assist us, so I thought I'd make you the offer."

Zelos frowned, eyeing the man and crossing his arms over his chest.

"So spill it, what do you want?"

"Sylvarant's Chosen is still young, of course, only six. However as of recently we have…well, issues have developed because of her. Or, more accurately, because of her parents, the father in particular."

"So? What does that have to do with me?"

"The Chosen's parents have taken her from their village and fled, Cruxis is attempting to get them back. This means they've accepted her as a viable vessel, so that means once she is of age she will complete the regeneration journey."

Zelos' expression darkened.

"You know what that means, of course." Yuan said, his expression cold. "That means Tethe'Alla will decline, and your child will be the Chosen of a declining world. Tethe'Alla will take your child and send them off to slaughter."

"So you want me to get rid of the Sylvaranti Chosen?"

"Exactly."

"You want me to kill a six-year-old girl."

"Yes."

Zelos scowled, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Forget it, I told you I'm done with your dirty work. Besides, it's just one kid, why can't your men take care of it?"

"There's another…issue, that's come up. We've sent several people after them but they've all been eliminated."

Zelos rose a brow, his interest piqued.

"A couple bumpkin parents did that?"

"As I said, it's the father that's of particular interest." Yuan said, his eyes narrowed. "We have reason to believe he's an angel."

The redhead laughed, shaking his head and rubbing his temple.

"Right, now seriously-…holy shit you are serious, aren't you?" the man frowned.

"Yes. Not only is he an angel but he's proven himself dangerous. My men simply can't handle him. I sent one of my special operatives but she…wasn't up to the job."

"Presea? You sent Presea to kill a little girl?" Zelos rolled his eyes. "That was just stupidity on your part. Of course she couldn't do it, she loved a little girl."

He frowned, his eyes hardening.

"And I'm gonna have a little girl of my own, so what makes you think I could do this?"

"Because you can." Yuan replied flatly. "Because you are that brutal, you are that ruthless. You'll kill a child if you have to. This man is a threat, we can't kill the Chosen with him protecting her, not with brute strength. That's why we need you, you have a certain…finesse, as well as fighting prowess."

"I'm not gonna kill a little girl-"

Yuan stood, walking up to the man and meeting his eyes, his expression hard.

"If you don't, Zelos, it's your little girl that's going to die. Not right away, no, but as soon as she's of age they'll send her off to slaughter. They'll take her from you, brainwash her into believing she has to die for the world, and then cart her off to her death."

The Chosen twitched, his expression stiff and hostile, jaw clenched as he met the Renegade's eyes.

"Don't think of it as a job for me, Zelos, don't even think of it as being for the good of the world. Think of it like this, either his daughter dies, or yours does."

Zelos remained silent as Yuan turned, heading for the door.

"I don't care how you do it, just do it. We want the father alive if he really is an angel, but if he's too much of a threat, or just a human, we're fine with him dead too."

"…Will you leave someone to take care of Sheena while I'm gone?"

"If that's what you want in return, then yes."

"Fine."

* * *

><p>"Wait- so who is this guy?"<p>

Lloyd frowned, glancing over at the Seraph. The man lingered close enough to the group to be included but far enough that his mistrusted position was quite clear. The Irving family had barely said two words to him, focusing more on gaining some distance from their last camp. Even their daughter had been oddly quiet, perhaps picking up on the tense atmosphere. It was just their luck that along the path they ran into the Sage siblings. Raine was eying Kratos suspiciously and Genis looked to his friend for answers, he and Colette seemed to have the same anxious expressions.

"I guess we're far enough we can rest a bit," Lloyd said, looking at his wife, who nodded.

Colette sighed, sitting in the grass and placing Arie on her lap. The young girl snuggled up to her mother, though her brown eyes continued to sweep those present. Kratos didn't approach but didn't distance himself, quietly, patiently waiting to see if he would be addressed. Noishe whined, rubbing his head against the Seraph's hand, causing the ancient man to reluctantly scratch his ears.

Lloyd explained to Raine and Genis how he, Colette and Arie had encountered the man at their camp. How he had shown up just in time to help them against a squad, then how he had revealed his wings-

"Wings?" Raine interrupted, her cold eyes darting to Kratos. "You. You're an angel?"

Kratos glanced over, regarding her just as coolly before giving one curt nod.

"Really? An angel? Then what is it you want? What are you doing here?"

"He hasn't told us that yet-" Lloyd frowned.

"Then why are you letting him follow you?" Raine snapped, arms crossed over her torso.

"Because…" he hesitated, unsure how to tell her.

"He said he's daddy's daddy," Arie spoke up, completely oblivious to her father's discomfort.

Raine and Genis both stared, first at the girl and then at the Seraph. Lloyd frowned, going over everything that had happened in his mind. It made sense, with what he knew, that that angel was his father. There was a lot that didn't make sense, however, but those were questions he wanted to ask the Seraph personally, no with the Sages or his daughter around. Maybe not even Colette…

"You're his father?" Raine demanded.

"Yes."

"Wh- how old are you?" Genis stared.

"He could be very old for all we know," Raine said, her eyes narrowed. "I've heard they can live longer than elves, if they die at all."

"Old enough." Kratos replied.

"He does look a lot like you, Lloyd…" Genis muttered, eying Kratos. "But…I mean how do you know? For sure?"

"I don't, okay?" Lloyd snapped quietly. "I don't know for sure, not yet, but Noishe knows him and…I wanted to ask him some questions but we had to focus on getting away right then, you know? I just haven't been able to- and I don't know why he…"

The dual swordsman sighed, rubbing his face in exasperation.

"Daddy? Is something wrong?" Arie climbed out of her mother's lap, tugging her father's sleeve. "Are you mad?"

"No, pumpkin, I'm just…thinking."

Arie frowned, looking up at the Sages and then over at Noishe and Kratos.

She didn't get what was going on. The man said he was Daddy's daddy, so he was grandpa, just like Grandpa Frank and Grandpa Dirk. Why did Daddy have two daddies? Could someone have two daddies or mommies? Well she guessed so, because that's who the spiky-haired guy said he was, and Daddy thought he was too. Daddy was always right. That and Noishe really liked spiky-haired guy, he kept trying to get him to pet him. Noishe was a big fraidy-cat, so if he liked him, he had to be nice.

Daddy, Mommy and Uncle Genis and Aunt Raine were talking again. She frowned, letting go of her father's sleeve and looking around. They always told her to stay close to them, but she was bored. Spiky-haired guy was her new grandpa, right? Then it should be okay if she went over to him. So she did, crossing the distance to the new grandpa. He was watching her, and he looked kind of confused, she thought. She smiled up at him and Noishe trotted over to her, liking her cheek. She giggled, petting Noishe and then looked up at Kratos with her big brown eyes.

"So are you my grandpa?" she asked, craning her neck to look up at him.

"Yes," he said quietly, a bit softer than he had answered Raine.

"Arie-!" she heard her mother say.

"Are you going to travel with us too?"

"…I don't know yet."

Arie heard her parents come over, the Sages behind them. Her father picked her up, holding her protectively to his chest.

"I think it's best we all had a little chat," Raine said, eying the Seraph. "Mostly regarding your intentions and…"

"And why I was abandoned in a human village," Lloyd cut in sharply.

Kratos frowned and Arie looked between him and her father. They were all upset about something, she was sure. She wasn't quite sure what it was yet, though….but that was okay. She was sure everything'd be okay, her mommy and daddy promised after all.

New-Grandpa looked kind of sad though….why was he sad?

**Well I updated something instead of working on my multiple reports…God I have so much to do…**

**Review please? I'd appreciate it**


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